Baby Queen

Arabella Sarah Lennox Latham (born 19 August 1997), known professionally as Baby Queen, is a South African-born British singer based in London. Born and raised in Durban, she moved to London at 18 to pursue a career in music and signed a recording contract with Polydor Records in 2020.

Her first EP, Medicine, was released in November 2020, followed by her debut mixtape, The Yearbook, in September 2021. She made the long list for the Radio 1 Sound of 2022. Her debut studio album, Quarter Life Crisis, was released in November 2023.

Early life

Latham was born and brought up in Durban, South Africa. Her father owns an art supply company, while also operating a small art gallery located above this shop. Latham claims her upbringing in South Africa has contributed to her confident personality and the loudness of her Baby Queen persona. During this time, Latham says she developed issues with substance abuse, using drugs to counteract her depression.

Latham admits to having unrealistic expectations about the ease of getting a record deal in London, a city with a much more flourishing music industry than her South-African hometown. She recounts her initial plans of "making it" by knocking on music labels' doors with her mixtapes. The only remaining non-single on the EP, "Online Dating", received a hybrid lyric and music video entitled "Online Dating (Baby Kingdom)" on 11 November, the day of the EP's release. "Baby Kingdom" is the term given to Latham's fans. Latham was inspired to cover a Christmas song by the childhood memory of her dad's Christmas mixtape, and she explains her choice of "Santa Baby" by the fact that its "cheeky and satirical lyrics" align with the rest of her discography and persona. "You Shaped Hole" was also included in the FIFA 22 soundtrack. Her single "Dover Beach" was inspired by her time writing music in Dover after having been initially motivated to go there while reading the poem "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold.

2022–2023: Heartstopper and Quarter Life Crisis

The single "Wannabe" was released on 10 November 2021, accompanied by a music video on YouTube.

Her next single, "Colours of You", was released on 22 April 2022. The track was used to promote the Netflix series Heartstopper, with a series of videos featuring the cast with Baby Queen posted on the social media platform TikTok. She made her acting debut in the final episode of the second season of the show, performing as a singer at the prom.

Two additional singles have since been released. "Nobody Really Cares" and "LAZY" were both previewed on social media, as well as being part of Latham's live shows. Her song "LAZY" was featured in the Growing Together Expansion Pack on the alternative radio station in The Sims 4, where Latham sang the song in simlish.

Latham provided musical support during the Europe and UK leg of Olivia Rodrigo's SOUR tour in June and July 2022.

On 19 March 2023, Latham uploaded a video to TikTok, where she was in a music studio, dancing to music. It was speculated that the audio is actually a demo for a new song, with the caption "#newmusic". The song included the lyrics ‘Dream Girl’ and it was speculated this was the name of the song.

On 2 May 2023, she uploaded an official music video of the song "These Drugs" onto YouTube. This would be the sixth music video to accompany songs from The Yearbook.

On 19 May 2023, Baby Queen announced on her Instagram account that "Dream Girl" would be released on 9 June 2023 as the lead single from her upcoming debut album.

On 20 July 2023, Baby Queen released "We Can Be Anything" as the second single from the album. It was later announced that this song would be a part of the soundtrack for EA Sports FC 24, which released 22 September 2023.

On 10 August 2023, Baby Queen released "All the Things" as the third single. She also announced the title of her debut album, Quarter Life Crisis, which was set to be released on 6 October 2023.

On 6 September 2023, Latham announced that the title track "Quarter Life Crisis" would be the fourth single to support the build-up to her debut album, Quarter Life Crisis. This song, released on 8 September 2023, was accompanied by a music video which was later released in the day. The album was initially going to be named kid genius, another track in the album, but was changed after her mother's urging.

On 30 January 2026, she released the single "I Hope You Don't Remember Me", written during her period of transition from living in London to New York and then Los Angeles, which Latham described as "about an urge to revoke my memory from somebody else's mind after perceived rejection (partly in defiance and partly out of shame), and have them be erased from my own in return". The song is a product of her collaboration with the producer Alex Casnoff, and was the first release of her second album, I Hope You Don't Remember Me, released on 24 July 2026 via Insanity Records. Latham described her second album as "a story about love, rejection, ego and shame told by an unreliable narrator whose understanding of love is warped", and said that the making of the album "was the closest I've come to finding some sort of faith in myself."

Artistry

Influences

Latham cites her earliest influences as the artists she grew up listening to, such as Fleetwood Mac and the Beatles. She recalls a home video of herself, three years of age and dancing to Madonna's "Like a Virgin". The first CD Latham bought herself was the Twilight soundtrack. The same day, the first volume of the show was broadcast to BBC Sounds. "Gameplay with Baby Queen" focuses on video game soundtracks and features music selected by Latham herself. Each episode is an hour long and is available online for 30 days after being uploaded. Even after moving to London, Latham recalls the "biphobic rhetoric" of some people she would meet.

Latham's attraction to women is often expressed in her lyrics. The song "Raw Thoughts" was dubbed a "bi anthem" by fans after Latham revealed that the lyrics were about a woman. Although the lyrics are gender neutral, the accompanying music video features Latham playing a waitress, daydreaming about a female customer at the café where she works. Latham's experiences with homophobia also inspire her songwriting. She cites her attraction to women as one reason she was deemed a "loser" or a "wannabe" by school bullies. These childhood experiences informed the "underdog anthem", "Wannabe", in which Latham proudly embraces these titles. In "These Drugs", the track which Latham claims is her most personal release to date, she describes her disastrous mental health and reliance on drugs at a point in time when she was not seeking help for her depression. As a general rule, Latham admits she takes issue with songs that lack honesty or raw emotion, and strives to transmit her deep personal struggles, along with her dark and satirical personality in her own lyricism.

Discography Studio albums +List of albums, with release date, selected chart positions, and album name shown Title Details Peak chart positions UK Quarter Life Crisis Released: 10 November 2023 Label: Polydor Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming, cassette 5I Hope You Don't Remember Me Released: 24 July 2026 Label: Insanity Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming, cassette —

Mixtapes +TitleDetailsThe Yearbook Released: 3 September 2021 Label: Polydor Formats: CD, LP, DL, streaming, cassette

Extended plays +TitleDetailsMedicine Released: 11 November 2020 Label: Polydor Formats: LP, DL, streaming, cassette

+TitleDetailsPermanently Obsessed Released: 23 June 2026 Label: Insanity Records Formats: Streaming

Singles TitleYearAlbum"Internet Religion" 2020 Medicine"Buzzkill""Pretty Girl Lie""Want Me""Medicine""Santa Baby" "Raw Thoughts" 2021 The Yearbook"These Drugs""Dover Beach""American Dream""You Shaped Hole""Narcissist""Wannabe" "Colours of You" 2022 Quarter Life Crisis"Nobody Really Cares""Lazy" "Dream Girl" 2023 Quarter Life Crisis"We Can Be Anything""All the Things""Quarter Life Crisis""23""I Can’t Get My Shit Together""Ride or Die" 2024 "I Hope You Don't Remember Me" 2026 I Hope You Don't Remember Me"Feel Something""Word Vomit""Permanently Obsessed""The Protagonist"