ONITSUKA TIGER jacket. — **ONITSUKA TIGER** jacket.

Every performer has different ways of calming their anxieties before putting on a show. Whether it’s trilling notes on the roof of their mouth, calisthenics, phoning mom, or consulting a good luck charm, there’s really no escaping the pre-show jitters and their need for soothing. For Sydney-raised Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, or The Kid LAROI, the remedy is a cup of throat coat herbal tea and a ball pit a la a McDonald’s play palace. Sitting amongst the garishly colored plastic balls, LAROI is able to breathe calmly. The ball bath is a welcome escape from the overwhelming success for LAROI that amassed almost overnight during this recent year, and fittingly, jumping headfirst into the rainbow-colored kiddie pool parallels the youthfulness and liberty that the artist exudes in his lyrics and music videos.

Five years ago, fame—let alone green room ball pits—was not even in the realm of imagination for LAROI. Growing up in relative poverty, he spent his formative years in a housing commission block, couch surfing with his mother. His upbringing was starkly different from the life he leads now under artificial lights and roaring fans, but being humble remains instilled in his persona. Now, LAROI is in the middle of remodeling his home in Los Angeles, where he resides with his mother and younger brother, Austin, creating a vessel for a dream that has come true in larger than life proportions. His unmistakable talent and ability to pull in other music fanatics like himself (see Miley Cyrus’ recent guesting on his hit track, “Without You”, or “Stay” with Justin Bieber) changed his course of history—and that of his family’s—forever.

ONITSUKA TIGER jacket, pants, and shoes and talent’s own sunglasses. — **ONITSUKA TIGER** jacket, pants, and shoes and talent’s own sunglasses.

Considering his moniker, when I ask him about the last time he felt like a kid, LAROI answers, “I’ve always felt like an adult, to be honest.” He explains that he always had a flair of maturity ever since childhood, perhaps something brought about by the conditions of his upbringing. It’s not something you might guess when listening to the music, which emanates a joyful energy that is hard to miss, with addictive beats that makes for a seamless guilty pleasure. LAROI does share, though, that recently he found himself in a Dave and Busters arcade and sports bar in New York. Surrounded by cheap carpet, blinking LED lights, and loud pixelated games, he felt like his young self again—the experience matched the musical ethos.

LAROI feels most invincible when he is in a recording studio. After a warm mug of throat coat tea and circling up with his favorite people, he is ready to get in the zone and make the music his fans adore. “Sometimes I’ll go in there, and I’ll have exactly what I want to do,” he shares. “Sometimes I’ll go in there and figure it out. Sometimes I’ll go in there, and I’ll come out with fucking nothing. And sometimes I just go in there and hang out, because I can’t think of anything. It just depends, that’s the magic of it.” The unpredictability of being in the studio is what makes it LAROI’s safe space, a place where he can mess up, find triumphs, or just get lost in thought.

LAROI’s 2019 song, “Let Her Go,” has garnered millions of streams and can be heard out and about on the streets if you listen close enough, even making its way onto TikTok as a trending audio with millions of views. LAROI has marked his meteoric rise to stardom by also signing a worldwide deal with Sony Publishing, winning Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year at the APRA Awards in Sydney, not to mention a Saturday Night Live debut.

PRADA jacket and DRIES VAN NOTEN sweater. — **PRADA** jacket and **DRIES VAN NOTEN** sweater.

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN jacket, pants, and boots and RHUDE t-shirt. — **ALEXANDER MCQUEEN** jacket, pants, and boots and **RHUDE** t-shirt.

In the throes of the adventures, the only thing that has remained steady has been music, which he has been writing since he was a kid. And it’s clear: LAROI’s connection to music is hard to miss, to him it’s a whole other language, one he uses to talk to his fan base and others who may encounter his song on TikTok or playing at the mall while they shop. “Ever since I can remember, I used to record myself on my mom’s phone and like, uploaded it to Facebook,” LAROI laughs, “You can make music in lots of different ways, you don’t have to record it necessarily.”

LAROI adds that music, to him, is therapeutic, an outlet and a transmutation of emotional energy and lived experiences. The heart of his sonic output resides in the fact that it comes from an experience that is uniquely his own—whether it’s anything exciting, or interesting, or sad, LAROI takes his pen and begins to write. “I have shit to talk about, and I’m not going to talk about it to anyone else or in any other way, but through my music,” LAROI affirms. The declaration connotes a raw genuineness that is difficult to find nowadays. “What keeps inspiring me to put it out and let the world hear it is the fans,” he adds. “I get messages all the time from people, saying how much they connect and how much it helps them.”

LOUIS VUITTON MEN’S sweater and jeans and MAISON MARGIELA shoes. — **LOUIS VUITTON MEN’S** sweater and jeans and **MAISON MARGIELA** shoes.

BODE sweater, HEAVEN BY MARC JACOBS t-shirt, and CELINE jeans. — **BODE** sweater, **HEAVEN BY MARC JACOBS** t-shirt, and **CELINE** jeans.

LAROI is the kind of artist that could print out a sheet of his lyrics, but cross out his name, and his fans would still recognize his song from the first three words; an unmissable tone and personality accompanies all of LAROI’s creations. His loyal fanbase scaled during the time of COVID, resulting in his having a very different interaction with fame than most preceding artists. As such, he hopes that things are looking up in the near future, and he might enjoy some of the perks that come with the territory. “I’m definitely going to go on tour,” he says excitedly. “I want to go see all the fans and see everybody’s faces. I haven’t gotten to do that because everything started happening for me when COVID started, so it’s gonna be cool.”

LAROI continues to describe his auditory output as chapters of his life. “It’s like I give people a piece of my life,” he reflects on releasing his first EP, Fuck Love, “which is kind of weird.” Recently, the artist released a digital reprisal of Fuck Love called SAVAGE, in which he focuses on the maturation process encountered over the last year, with features from heavy-hitters like Machine Gun Kelly, Internet Money, and NBA Youngboy. “When I was messing with the digital reprisal,” he recounts, “I had a very, very angry call, and I recorded it because I thought it was hilarious. Then a couple days after, I was listening to the recording, and I was like, ‘Damn it. That’s it. That’s the start of the project.’” Indeed, the epitome of LAROI’s music style is that of simple spontaneity. Although many may spend hours planning and sketching out their musical output, LAROI prefers the freedom route, one where music controls him instead of the other way around.

GIVENCHY suit and top. — **GIVENCHY** suit and top.

BODE sweater, HEAVEN BY MARC JACOBS t-shirt, CELINE jeans. and LOEWE sunglasses. — **BODE** sweater, **HEAVEN BY MARC JACOBS** t-shirt, **CELINE** jeans. and **LOEWE** sunglasses.

At only 17-years-old, LAROI has a huge future ahead of him. Making the top 10 of Billboard’s 200 charts this past summer is no easy feat, something most 17-year-olds can’t claim. “I would say to my future self,” he declares, when asked about advice he might offer to the great unknown, “don’t change your mindset. Keep the same mindset you have now which has been: keep moving. Don’t dwell too hard on bad things. And don’t celebrate too hard on good things. Just keep it moving.”

We conclude our interview with my asking LAROI to describe himself and his music in three words, to which he quickly replies, without any hesitation, “Out of control.” It stands to be true—everything about the blossoming new artist knows no boundaries. With fresh energy, he is barreling towards the likes of stardom and joining the ranks of rhyme royalty, surpassing milestones with ease and making a mark for Australia in the increasingly globally-powerful rap game.