The Kid LAROI

The Kid LAROI is the moniker used by the performer born Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard. He grew up in Australia, surrounded by the Hip Hop and R&B music played at home by his mother - artists such as Fugees, Tupac, Erykah Badu and Lil Wayne. 

LAROI started out writing raps as a kid, filling notebooks with rhymes and finessing his skill as a lyricist. But it wasn’t until he started uploading freestyle videos online that he began to find an audience for his stories and record his work. “A guy reached out to me on Facebook saying I could use his studio for free - he gave me a bunch of studio time, I made a whole bunch of songs and just posted them up on Soundcloud,” he remembers. His debut EP was released when he was only 14. 

In 2018, he competed and became a finalist in a talent competition sponsored by a local radio station. This led to a spot opening for rapper Juice WRLD, who was in Australia on tour. The two became friends and the rapper became LAROI's mentor. 

LAROI signed with Columbia Records in 2019, releasing the single "Let Her Go". The next year, he released his first mixtape, F*CK LOVE. This was followed with an expanded version, featuring additional tracks, F*CH LOVE (Savage), working with rappers Internet Money, Youngboy Never Broke Again, Machine Gun Kelly and EDM producer Marshmello. A third incarnation, F*CK LOVE 3+: OVER YOU. 

In December 2020, he released the track "Without You". A remix featuring Miley Cyrus was released the following April. The song became a multi-format hit, reaching #3 on the Mediabase Pop chart. It was certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA. LAROI followed with another collaboration, "Stay" featuring Justin Bieber. The song hit #1 on the Hot 100. It became the fastest song (at the time) to reach two billion streams on Spotify. He was awarded with the Australia Recording Industry Academy award for Best Pop Release as well as the award for Best Artist. A follow-up release, "Thousand Miles," reached the top ten on the Mediabase Pop chart. LAROI took home the ARIA Best Pop Release award for the song in 2022.

In January 2023, LAROI released the songs, "Can't Go Back to the Way It Was (Intro)," and "Love Again" as the first singles off his upcoming debut studio album, The First Time.

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