If pronouncing X Æ A-12 Musk is tough for you, try Little X.
The latter is the sweet and snappy nickname Grimes and husband, tech billionaire Elon Musk, gave their newborn child.
Earlier this month, the couple had us consulting scientific charts when they announced their son’s unusual moniker.
Grimes went on to explain that the name pays tribute to various concepts, including the "unknown variable" and their favourite aircraft, the SR-17.
•X, the unknown variable ⚔️
— ☾laire de ☾une (@Grimezsz) May 6, 2020
•Æ, my elven spelling of Ai (love &/or Artificial intelligence)
•A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent 🤍
+
(A=Archangel, my favorite song)
(⚔️🐁 metal rat)
The name however was later amended from X Æ A-12 to X Æ A-Xii to be in line with California state laws requiring all registered names to comprise of letters from the English alphabet and common punctuation such as hyphens, apostrophes, periods, and commas.
Perhaps the name – which the couple said is pronounced as "Zai-ah" – was also a mouthful, with Grimes revealing in a recent interview with Bloomberg that she calls her son Little X at home.
Grimes on her anime-horror digital arts show
In addition to releasing her ambitious concept album Miss Anthropocene in February, Grimes – real name Claire Boucher – has also been dabbling in fine arts.
She is presently showcasing her debut arts show, Selling Out, which can be viewed digitally on the Gallery Platform Los Angeles website until Wednesday, June 3 and the Maccarone Los Angeles site until Monday, August 31.
The exhibition already made international headlines with news that the Canadian singer was putting a part of her soul for sale as part of the show. And what does that look like, exactly? Well, it won't come in the form of a briefcase like in Pulp Fiction, but in a dry legal document stating you are the sole owner of a percentage of her soul.
For those looking for more tangible items, however, the exhibition also has photographs, prints and sketches that follows the "edgy looking, anime horror" visual style that Grimes uses for her album artwork. The pieces are also for sale, with prints beginning from $500 (Dh1,836) and ink-on-paper drawings going up to $3,000.
Grimes says the exhibition is a natural extension of her artistic career.
"I made art 10, 12 years before I ever touched a keyboard," she told Bloomberg. "I see myself as a visual artist first and foremost, and I've always felt strange that people know me for music."
