Why I Love The Kid LAROI
The Kid LAROI oozes conviction, and I believe in him.
On Music…
Australian rapper The Kid LAROI’s music hits the heart. On his debut project, F*CK LOVE, LAROI jumps from heartbreak anthem to heartbreak anthem, speaking for a generation of kids scorned by romance. We could argue LAROI’s generation, in concordance with social media, have had love’s preciousness stolen from them. We could argue a lot of things, but what I want to pay special attention to is not the things plaguing 16-year-old LAROI and his peers, but the incredible quality of LAROI’s voice and how it showcases his equally attractive conviction.
On his standout single, “TELL ME WHY,” The Kid LAROI stretches and challenges his vocal range. He delivers a wrenching tune about the finality of love and all its uncertainty. The Cole Bennett-directed video for the song receives top marks, but it’s the below Genius live rendition of the song that really captures my attention. LAROI just sounds within the music. His passion oozes out of the video. “TELL ME WHY” is likely LAROI’s best song for this very reason: The way he kneads his vocal tone into shape runs parallel with the amount of passion he bakes into his performance.
I love The Kid LAROI because of his unshakable conviction. He sings and raps like he needs to be creating. As he told me during our interview, the young man is “dying” to express himself. That dire need communicates well to me, a creative who cannot live without the act of writing. There’s an incredible sense of urgency to this “TELL ME WHY” performance, and considering the level of perfectionism LAROI is already holding himself to, we get the impression hip-hop isn’t just a quick venture for the artist.
Live performance videos are the closest thing we’re going to get to concerts for a long time. I’ve always held the belief that the way an artist carries themselves on stage is indicative of how seriously they take their music. That doesn’t mean you have to be a maniac on stage, running and jumping and doing tricks for our entertainment. I mean, do you appear to care? When I saw Noname headline New York City for the first time at Baby’s All Right, she was nervous on stage and honest about said nerves—of course she cared and took her music seriously.
I say that to say, The Kid LAROI’s Genius performance shows me he cares deeply about his craft. I’m not sure how long it’ll be until I can gauge the way The Kid LAROI handles a stage and a crowd, but I can already see he’s got that creative craze to him. He’s practically shaking during the more intense moments on “TELL ME WHY.” His voice quivers from the emotion. By the end of the performance, LAROI looks genuinely spent—if not a little impressed with his own delivery.
I love The Kid LAROI because he’s taking a leap of faith with his voice and we get to watch him run up and take flight. When the creator pours into their art, it feels like a kind of respect for the consumer. The Kid LAROI could be peddling throwaways to make a quick buck, sure, but watching his “TELL ME WHY” performance gives me a different impression. Perhaps I’m naive, but I believe in The Kid.