The Kid Laroi Holds a Special Billboard Chart Record
Australian breakout star The Kid Laroi has seemingly emerged out of nowhere in the last year. The 18-year-old singer first became known as a friend of the late rapper Juice Wrld, and he continued to make a name for himself with his own hit songs.
The Kid Laroi burst onto the scene with his hit song ‘Stay’
The Kid Laroi first started releasing music back in 2018, but it wasn’t until 2020 when the young artist emerged on people’s radar. His debut mixtape, F— Love, showed that he was much more than a simple singer, with a mixture of pop, rap, and rock.
He released two more mixtapes, including F— Love 3, which contained the hit single “Stay,” the chart-topping collaboration with Justin Bieber. The song went viral on TikTok — as do many popular songs in this day and age — and rocketed the young Australian artist to the top of the charts.
“Even when I feel down and I feel like I don’t want to do something, I need to remember that there’s so many people out there that would love to be in my position, and there’s so many other things I could be doing now that I would hate even more,” he told Complex in 2021. “Pretty much, this is my dream. I’m living out my dream, and this is what I always wanted to do. I have to always remember that, and be grateful for it.”
The Kid Laroi is the youngest Australian with a number-one hit
Since its release in July 2021, “Stay” has proven that it has major staying power (no pun intended). It’s the lead single from his mixtape F— Love 3: Over You, and his first major single with him as a lead artist.
The song debuted at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, eventually climbing to the number-one spot. According to Billboard, with his first number-one hit at just 17 years old, Laroi became the youngest Australian solo artist to top the Hot 100 in history; the last Aussie solo male vocalist to achieve the feat was Rick Springfield with his 1981 hit “Jessie’s Girl.”
“I just make music and I put it out, and that’s good enough for me,” he told Complex. “I support my family. That’s how I measure success: the fact that I’m able to take care of my family. I don’t give a f— what number it is on any chart, as long as I’m still able to support my family and keep everybody happy.”
The Kid Laroi insists he’s a rapper
Even though “Stay” is ostensibly a pop-leaning song, Laroi has stated in the past that he considers himself a rapper, with many hip-hop-leaning tracks in his F— Love trilogy. But he also stated that he doesn’t care to fit into whatever sounds people consider rap to be.
“Honestly, I don’t give a f— [about haters],” he said honestly. “I just do whatever I think feels right, and I just make whatever comes to me. Same thing with the chart thing; that extra s— is for y’all. Not for me. I make the music, I put it out.”
