Originally from Australia and only seventeen years old, Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, otherwise known as “The Kid LAROI,” already has multiple Billboard top hits.
Musical artist, The Kid LAROI, kneels
Steve Cannon
Nearly all his Youtube videos have tens of millions of views, with his song “Without You” totaling 37 million views for both versions of the song’s music video. His other song, “F*CK LOVE (SAVAGE)” reached #3 on the Billboard Top 200, and has been streamed more than 1.28 billion times on Spotify.
But Howard isn’t your usual social media teenage pop star. He’s not some trust fund Tiktok star or a conceited, entitled Instagram Influencer. Raised by a single mother who struggled to make ends meet, Howard and his younger brother regularly moved around due to their family’s financial situation.
Here’s what we can all learn from The Kid LAROI about making your dreams a reality, even if you don’t have a lot of money, connections, or an Ivy League education.
Having a highly supportive mom helped The Kid LAROI a lot
Howard’s mom means everything to him. Growing up, she played lots of hip-hop music such as Erykah Badu and the Fugees. As he got a little older, he realized that music was the perfect outlet for his feelings and the difficult experiences he faced growing up in Australia. By age 10, Howard had already decided he wanted a career as a musician.
“She never said, ‘You can’t do that; it’s impossible!’ Because you know, when you look at [those dreams], it seems impossible for a 10-year-old Australian kid out in the desert…achieving something like this. My mom never told me that, though, but who knows what she really thought,” chuckles Howard.
Instead, Howard’s mom said things like, “Hey, you can do it. Just put your mind to it.”
He shares anecdotes of being up late at night with his mom sometimes trying to find contact information for visiting artists like Young Money. Even when they weren’t successful, Howard says her support and encouragement of his dreams meant a ton to him.
“If she had told me I couldn’t do it, I don’t know, I might still be back in Australia,” laughs Howard.
When asked about his move to L.A., Howard said:
“It’s a whole different world than where I’m from. It’s a lot faster, with a lot more stuff going on. It’s kind of weird coming from Australia and being thrown into the mix in L.A., but at the same time I feel like, ‘this is what I was always meant to do.’ So it kind of comes naturally for me. I do sit back sometimes and say, “Damn, this shit is crazy,” but I’ve kind of been wanting to do this my whole life, so it’s amazing to finally get the opportunity to do this because not a lot of people where I’m from get this kind of opportunity.”
Howard’s closeness to his mother and younger brother seems to help him stay grounded and remain happy and confident amidst the hustle and bustle of the entertainment industry.
The power of relentless hustle and determination can open doors for anyone
Within a few minutes of speaking with The Kid LAROI, it’s clear how passionate he is about his art, and dreams for his musical career.
As a kid in Australia, Howard constantly hustled to network with visiting artists, with the assistance of his mom and friends.
“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. That was a big thing I used to do for about two years,” recounts Howard.
In fact, one of his social engineering tactics paid off, and was how he met and later collaborated with the artist, Swae Lee. Howard sent one of his female friends on a mission to play his music for Swae Lee, and his plan succeeded. Now they laugh about it, but Swae Lee still remembers and is impressed by this teenager’s endless creative hustle.
Becoming the late Juice WRLD’s protege and joining Spotify RADAR program
Beyond all of Howard’s relentless determination and natural talent, there are several things that have made a big difference in his music career. Being mentored by the late Juice WRLD and joining Spotify’s “RADAR Program” both helped Howard reach new levels.
Spotify’s Head of Global Hits, Ned Monahan, had some interesting memories he shared about Howard and his late mentor, Juice WRLD.
“You could just tell LAROI was watching and soaking up everything Juice did. He observed him so intently, and tried to learn everything he could,” recalls Monahan.
Howard told me that Juice influenced him in countless ways, including his songwriting and recording process. For example, Howard used to write his songs in advance, but he switched to recording freestyles more shamelessly, and “punching in” lines that needed to be fixed or filled. Juice WRLD also taught Howard about the importance of focusing on a particular emotion when making a song or album.
The Kid LAROI was chosen to join the Spotify RADAR Emerging Artists program because of his talent, his ability to successfully grow a loyal online fanbase, and his growing appeal with Spotify’s broader audience.
Spotify launched its RADAR program to promote emerging artists around the world. Musicians get slots on Spotify’s programmed playlists, including on the “On Our Radar” playlist.
Since joining the Spotify RADAR program in October 2020, The Kid Laroi has had 176% monthly growth in streams, and 262% growth in programmed streams. At the start of 2020 his followers were only 13,000, but now he has over 27 million monthly followers on Spotify.
Monahan also shared several tips to help aspiring artists be successful on streaming platforms like Spotify based on his experiences with Howard and other artists from the RADAR program:
- “Find new ways to connect with your audience using a variety of content.” So instead of just thinking about songs and music videos, consider doing makeup or cooking tutorials, or whatever you’re interested in that you can use to create content with your audience.
- “Consistency is everything. Put your best foot forward, musically, but we’re in an ‘attention economy.’ You have to maintain your presence and be consistent to gain someone’s mind and heart as a fan.”
- “Use Spotify tools. Figure out where your audience is; build them; understand them…and where you’re at in that market. Use it to inform yourself as you grow and reach new audiences.”
Previous Spotify RADAR artists have included: Flo Milli, Alaina Castillo, Rina Sawayama, Zoe Wees, and Lous and the Yakouza. Spotify just announced their fifth US RADAR artist, “girl in red.”
