The Kid Laroi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Kid Laroi
The Kid Laroi in 2023
Background information
Birth name	Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard
Born	(2003-08-17) 17 August 2003 (age 21) Waterloo, New South Wales, Australia
Genres	Hip-hop R&B emo pop alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Rapper singer songwriter
Years active	2016–present
Labels	Grade A Columbia
Signature

Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard (born on August 17, 2003), known as the Kid Laroi, is an Australian rapper and singer. He was first noticed by Triple J Unearthed in 2016 when he was just 13 years old. As he became more popular, he signed with Lil Bibby's Grade A Productions and Columbia Records. He became very famous for his 2021 song "Stay" with Justin Bieber. This song reached number one in many countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United States.

His first mixtape, ... Love (released in 2020), became number one on the Australian charts. This made him the youngest Australian solo artist to achieve this. It also reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. The mixtape had two new versions. The first one, ... Love: (Savage), included his hit song "Without You". This song was later remixed with American singer Miley Cyrus and became a top ten hit in the US. The second version, ... Love: Over You (released in 2021), featured "Stay". His first studio album, The First Time (released in 2023), included the songs "Love Again" and "Too Much" with Jungkook and Central Cee.

Growing Up

Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard was born on August 17, 2003, in Waterloo, New South Wales, a part of Sydney, Australia. He has a younger brother named Austin. His father, Nick Howard, was a singer for a short time and worked in music production. His mother, Sloane Howard, was a talent manager and record executive. She has both Aboriginal and European family roots.

Howard's family history includes his great-great-grandfather, who was part of the Stolen Generations. This refers to a time when many Aboriginal children were taken from their families. Because of this ancestor, he is a Gamilaraay (or Kamilaroi) man, and his stage name "Laroi" comes from this.

He became interested in hip hop music at a young age. His mother often played music by artists like Fugees, 2Pac, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West. He has said that Kanye West's 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak is his favorite.

Howard's childhood was sometimes difficult. When his parents separated when he was four, his life became less stable. At age seven, he moved to Broken Hill in New South Wales and lived with his mother, brother, grandparents, and stepfather. He went to a private school there, Sacred Heart Parish School, where he was a house captain. After leaving Broken Hill, he attended Sacred Heart College in Adelaide for a while. He faced bullying there, and his mother could no longer afford the school. They moved back to Sydney in 2017.

In Sydney, Howard attended the Australian Performing Arts Grammar School on a scholarship. However, he left school in year nine to focus on his music career. During this time, his family lived in a Housing Commission building in Redfern. In an interview, he shared that his mother is his best friend, and he wanted to help her with their financial struggles. He even found a part-time job at a fruit store.

In 2019, a hip-hop podcast called No Jumper made a documentary about Howard and his friends in Redfern. Howard talked about how he worked hard to become famous outside of Australia by making connections with people in the music industry. He said, "I would go and wait outside hotel rooms for big artists that were coming to town. I'd try to play my music and find different ways to meet them or get backstage." His efforts paid off when he met and later worked with Swae Lee.

His Music Journey

Starting Out

Howard began by recording raps on his mother's phone and uploading them to SoundCloud. He told Triple J that his first rap name was "FC6." In 2015, he formed a music duo called "Dream$Team" with Adelaide rapper DJ Marcus Jr. (also known as LadyKiller). DJ Marcus Jr. became his mentor, helping him with promoting, recording, and getting attention for his music.

Howard met his current producer, Khaled Rohaim, at a recording studio in Sydney. Rohaim was impressed by Howard's talent and his difficult living situation. He would pick Howard up from different places in Sydney so they could eat and record music at his studio. Rohaim also gave Howard work writing songs for other artists. Once, he wrote a song that featured A Boogie, and Howard managed to sneak into the studio to meet him. They ended up recording a song together.

In 2017, Howard signed a development deal with Sony Music Australia. In the same year, he helped host the Fernside Festival, an event for young people.

First Steps: 14 with a Dream

On August 16, 2018, the day before his 15th birthday, Howard released his first EP, 14 with a Dream. He worked with artists like Manu Crooks, B Wise, and Miracle on this project. That same month, he gained attention as a finalist in the Triple J Unearthed high competition. His Triple J Unearthed profile still shows three songs he uploaded: "Disconnect (demo)," "In My Feelings," and "Blessings." In 2018, he also performed with Manu Crook$ at Listen Out Festival and with Tkay Maidza at Triple J's One Night Stand Festival. He also played at Newtown Festival and supported THEY. He even collaborated on a song with Lil Skies, who shared a preview with his millions of Instagram followers. Howard was interviewed by FBi Radio, and the interviewer noted that Howard arrived in his school uniform because the interview had to be after school. Howard's strong desire to become a legend in music was clear when he was asked to name three future legends in Australian music, and he included himself.

In March 2019, Howard held a meet-and-greet event for the streetwear brand Street X in Darlinghurst. Fans lined up to meet him, and he also performed with Triple One. In the same year, he partnered with American rapper Lil Bibby's record label Grade A Productions and Columbia Records. Howard was mentored by American rapper Juice Wrld when he supported him on his Australian tours in 2018 and 2019. Howard even lived with Juice Wrld in Los Angeles to learn about the studio and recording process. He performed at Rolling Loud Festivals in Miami and New York. In December, Howard gained international attention when the music video for his song "Let Her Go" was posted on the Lyrical Lemonade YouTube channel.

Big Hits: From ... Love to "Stay"

On January 31, 2020, Howard released "Diva" featuring American rapper Lil Tecca. A music video directed by Cole Bennett was released the next day. On March 22, he released "Addison Rae," a song named after the social media star. On March 27, Howard appeared in American rapper Lil Mosey's music video for "Blueberry Faygo". On April 17, he released "Fade Away" with American rapper Lil Tjay. On April 25, he was featured on "Go Dumb" by producer Y2K, also featuring Blackbear and Bankrol Hayden. On June 12, he released "Go" featuring Juice Wrld, with a music video directed by Steve Cannon. On June 26, Howard was featured on Bankrol Hayden's album Pain Is Temporary on a remix of "Costa Rica." On July 18, he released "Tell Me Why," a song dedicated to Juice Wrld. Howard shared the cover art and release date for his mixtape on Twitter the same day. The mixtape, ... Love, was released on July 24 and included features from Lil Mosey, Corbin, and Juice Wrld. On the same day, he released the music video for "Not Fair" featuring Corbin. On August 7, he released the music video for "Selfish." On August 28, Howard was featured on Internet Money's mixtape B4 the Storm on the song "Speak." On September 18, the music video for "Wrong" featuring Lil Mosey was released. On October 23, Howard released "So Done," the first song from his next project, with a Lyrical Lemonade music video directed by Cole Bennett. On October 30, Howard was featured on "My City" by Onefour.

On November 2, Howard announced on Instagram that his next project would be called Savage and would be a deluxe version of ... Love. It was released four days later, on November 6. It reached number one on the Australian ARIA charts and number 3 on the US Billboard 200. The music video for "Always Do," directed by Steve Cannon, was also released that day. On November 26, the music video for "Maybe" was released. On December 17, Howard released the music video for "Without You," directed by Steve Cannon. On December 8, he was featured on "Reminds Me Of You," a song by the late Juice Wrld. On December 29, he released the music video for "Tragic" featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Internet Money, directed by Steve Cannon.

On March 19, 2021, Howard was featured on Justin Bieber's song "Unstable" from Bieber's album Justice. On April 30, Howard released a remix of "Without You" with American singer Miley Cyrus. This song was already very popular on TikTok and reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Howard's first top-ten hit as a main artist. On May 8, he performed the song with Miley Cyrus on Saturday Night Live. In June 2021, Howard left Grade A Productions and signed a management deal with Scooter Braun. That same month, Howard announced that the third and final part of the ... Love series would be released in July. On July 9, Howard released "Stay," a collaboration with Bieber. The song came with a music video and reached number 1 on the Hot 100, becoming Howard's highest-charting song in the United States. A second deluxe version of ... Love, titled ... Love 3: Over You, was released on July 23. This version also featured Polo G, Stunna Gambino, G Herbo, and Lil Durk. An extended version, ... Love 3+: Over You, was released on July 27 with six more songs. Because of this, the ... Love project reached number one on the Billboard 200 more than a year after it first came out. Howard and Bieber performed "Stay" at the 2021 VMA awards. Howard was nominated for Best New Artist and Push Performance of the Year for "Without You." In September 2021, Howard left SB Projects and signed with Adam Leber at Rebel Management. On November 24, 2021, Howard won Best Artist and Best Pop Release at the 2021 ARIA Music Awards, and he performed "Stay" to end the show.

Touring the World

On January 13, 2022, Howard hinted at a new album and teased a song with Don Toliver. On January 22, "Stay" was voted 2nd in Triple J's 2021 Hottest 100, making him the highest-ranking Indigenous artist in the event's history. On April 22, Howard released his first song since "Stay" called "Thousand Miles," which came out with a music video. The music video reached 1 million views in about a day. In May 2022, Howard left Adam Leber's Rebel Management and re-signed with Scooter Braun. That same month, Howard returned to Sydney, Australia, for the first time since moving to Los Angeles in 2019. He performed his first headlining concert tour, called the End of the World Tour, to support his mixtape, ... Love. After Howard became ill before his Melbourne show on June 3, his concerts were postponed. Howard apologized to his fans, and the shows were rescheduled. On July 8, Howard and American rapper Fivio Foreign released "Paris to Tokyo" along with a music video. On July 22, he was featured on Nardo Wick's song "Burning Up" from his album, Who Is Nardo Wick?. In December, he performed at iHeartRadio's 2022 Jingle Ball.

New Music and Documentaries

On January 12, 2023, Howard posted a short video on YouTube for his first studio album, The First Time. The album includes the songs "I Can't Go Back to the Way It Was (Intro)," "Love Again," and "Kids Are Growing Up (Part 1)." On January 27, Howard hosted a Fortnite concert called "Wildest Dreams." In February, Howard announced his second headlining tour, called Bleed for You, to support The First Time. The tour started on March 22 in Syracuse, New York. On February 27, 2023, Howard released a song for Valentine's Day called "I Guess It's Love?" with a music video featuring his girlfriend, Katarina Deme. The end of the video showed that the album's last song would be "What Just Happened."

In March 2023, Howard was chosen to act in the A24 film Y2K. On April 21, 2023, Laroi appeared with Post Malone on "What You Say," a song from YoungBoy Never Broke Again's album, Don't Try This at Home. Howard performed at the 22nd Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2023. He recorded a song, "Forever & Again," for the soundtrack album of the 2023 film Barbie.

In October 2023, Howard released the single "Too Much" with South Korean singer Jungkook and British rapper Central Cee. The First Time album was released the next month. The album was successful in Australia and had moderate success worldwide. It reached number three on the ARIA charts and 23 on the Billboard 200. The album included guest appearances from YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Future, and D4vd.

In February 2024, Howard announced a documentary about himself called Kids Are Growing Up: A Story About A Kid Named Laroi. The film shows Howard talking about his challenges in the music industry and honoring his late mentor Juice Wrld. It also shares parts of Howard's personal life. The film was released on February 29, 2024. In June 2024, he released the single "Girls".

In November 2024, Howard took his The First Time tour to Australia. He started with a sold-out concert in Gold Coast at HOTA. The second part of his Australian tour also had a large audience at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, where he paid tribute to his late friend Juice Wrld. He also performed in Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, and Melbourne before returning to the US in December.

In April 2025, Howard started teasing a new song called How Does It Feel? on Instagram. He deleted all his old posts, changed his profile picture, and updated his bio with a link to pre-save the song. On April 9, Howard posted a short clip of How Does It Feel? with the caption "summer came early I guess??"

Beyond Music

In May 2022, Howard worked with McDonald's in Australia to create his own McDonald's meal. It included 6 chicken nuggets, medium fries, a cheeseburger with no pickles, barbecue sauce, and a frozen Coca-Cola. In the same month, Howard gave $100,000 to a youth service in Waterloo, Sydney, that he attended when he was younger.

Life Outside Music

Since 2020, Howard has lived in Los Angeles with his mother and younger brother. Howard sees himself as an ambassador for Australia. He told Triple J that he wants to do for Australia what Drake did for Toronto and Canada.

Howard supports the South Sydney Rabbitohs club in the National Rugby League. This team is based in Redfern, Sydney, where he spent part of his childhood.

Howard dated TikTok influencer Katarina Deme from 2020 to 2023. He has said that his breakup with Deme inspired songs on his album The First Time. In April 2024, Howard confirmed he was in a relationship with Canadian singer Tate McRae. They worked together on the song "I Know Love" from her 2025 album So Close to What.

His Albums

Studio albums

• The First Time (2023)
• Watch This! (Upcoming)

On Screen

Video game

Live Shows

Headlining

• The End of the World Tour (2022)
• Bleed For You College Tour (2023) (US only)
• The First Time World Tour (2024)

See also

In Spanish: The Kid Laroi para niños