Sixteen year old Australian artist
THE KID LAROI
reaches Top 10
on US Billboard Charts
with his debut mixtape
F*CK LOVE

THE YOUNG PRODIGY ALSO REACHED #3 IN AUSTRALIA AND
#12 IN THE UK

LISTEN HERE

.

.

One of Australia’s most promising musical exports, sixteen year old First Nations hip-hop prodigy The Kid LAROI has hit the coveted top 10 of the US Billboard album charts, reaching #8 with his debut mixtape F*CK LOVE.

Well on his way to becoming a global phenomenon, LAROI also reached #3 on the ARIA album charts and #12 on the UK charts. These international accolades go alongside LAROI’s formidable streaming numbers, with over 100 million streams in US and 30 million in Australia before the mixtape even dropped, as well as his track ‘Diva’ (ft Lil Tecca) recently being certified ARIA Gold.

F*CK LOVE achieved an impressive one million combined streams on release day in Australia alone, and already has over 12 million streams globally. The mixtape was also made the prestigious Feature Album on triple j last week, with LAROI coming full circle after being an Unearthed High finalist a few years ago. 

In his first major label debut project with Columbia Records / Sony Music Entertainment Australia, F*CK LOVE tackles love and loss consistent with the hardships LAROI has faced at his very early age. 

LISTEN HERE

The mixtape features the likes of former mentor, friend and fellow Grade A artist Juice WRLD. In the music videos for ‘Go’ and recent release ‘ Tell Me Why’, The Kid LAROI is able to convey the relationship the two had up until Juice’s untimely passing. Aside from LAROI displaying his remarkable vocal abilities, the album also features fellow artist’s peers Lil Mosey and Corbin. F*CK LOVE encapsulates love, pain and everything in between.

To celebrate the release of the mixtape, a mural of LAROI by acclaimed artist Scott Marsh has been painted in Sydney’s Redfern, where LAROI spent much of his youth. See below:

.

Follow THE KID LAROI
YouTube – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter

.

.

About The Kid LAROI

It’s not every day you meet a 16-year-old with the confidence to set his sights on rap royalty and the audacity to actually attempt it. Factor in that he’s from Australia, The Kid LAROI’s rapid ascent seems even more unlikely. But, with originally just a few official songs out and millions of streams across platforms, the rapper born Charlton is proving that for an incoming generation filled with promising talent, yesterday’s borders aren’t today’s barriers, and anyone can make it in America.

Born and raised in Sydney (aside from a short stint in the countryside) to a mother of Aboriginal descent and a French father, LAROI was raised by his mother and his uncle in a gritty environment. When they weren’t at The Fact Tree, a local youth centre where they played video games and pool, LAROI and his friends were on the streets. “We used to play with crackheads a lot, we used to just f*ck around,” he admits, describing his childhood unromantically. Meanwhile, the grown-ups did what they had to, outside the confines of the law, to provide for LAROI.

LAROI grew up consuming one of America’s most adored exports, listening to hip-hop and R&B icons like Tupac, Erykah Badu, The Fugees, Lil Wayne and Kanye West. He’s wanted to make music since he can remember, hoping to claim a spot within this legacy. 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. Following the tragic murder of his uncle in 2015, LAROI and his mother struggled. They moved into project housing and below the poverty line. LAROI honed in on his music.

Not unusual for a 16-year-old boy, LAROI’s lyrics can be unrefined and audacious. The song he’s most known for, 2019’s ‘Let Her Go’ (the Cole Bennett-directed video boasts over 20 million views), best demonstrates LAROI’s penchant for raw, at times crude, love stories. But his ear for infectious trap beats and melodic, gracefully auto-tuned hooks gained him the attention of the industry and acclaim from rap’s most exciting voices. After becoming a finalist in a triple j radio competition, he earned respect from Chicago rapper-turned-industry exec, Lil Bibby, whose support led him to performances on stages alongside the late Juice WRLD , whom he considered a close friend and mentor, THEY and more. In 2018, he recorded his debut EP 14 WITH A DREAM, executive produced by frequent collaborator Blessed, and watched standout ‘Blessings’ take off. A well-timed freestyle over Drake’s Tay Keith-produced ‘Nonstop’ added fuel to LAROI’s trailblazing fire.

“It’s really what I’ve always imagined… I always knew it was bigger than that,” LAROI says about his crossover success and finding an audience outside of Australia. Recent collaborations with Lil Tecca, Lil Tjay, and Juice are just the beginning for LAROI – expecting no less than to take the crown his francophone moniker implies. “Everything I make is the shit. I love everything I make. I take music super seriously, and I look at it as art,” says the teenage rap phenomenon. With an undeniable belief in his potential and the fast-paced track record to prove it, LAROI, unexpected as his story is, is making it increasingly easy for the rest of the world to believe in him too.

.

.

.

AMNPLIFY – DB