The Kid Laroi Knows The Value Of Collaboration

Does The Kid Laroi's "Without You" sound like Sia? Maybe, maybe not. Nevertheless what's key is how Sia may have inspired its creation.


"My friend Omer came through with his guitar," The Kid Laroi explains, "and I was like, 'Play something that you think Sia would sing over.'" Before long, Omer — that's Omer Fedi, by the way, the 21-year-old guitar prodigy who's helped shape standout hits from Machine Gun Kelly and Iann Dior, and recently helped Lil Nas X overcome the world with work on "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" — strummed the chords that became "Without You."


What Fedi and The Kid Laroi accomplished on that track is notable because it's effectively a power ballad, buoyed by the 17-year-old's massive vocals. Despite the similar subject matter, it's eons away from his other tunes, like "Tragic," that lean much more into hip-hop. "Without You" was the end result of group effort, which gives it extra power, he says.


"When I work, I like group effort. I like hearing other people's ideas," The Kid Laroi, the MTV Push artist for April 2021, says. Some days, people have good fucking ideas, man. You shouldn't be scared of that. It's making music, at the end of day. Ignore do not consider the shit also hard. Just do it, and if it sounds good, it sounds good. If it feels good, it feels good."


Not bad for a song that started in his residence studio while "going through some shit" about a girl. That's where The Kid Laroi, real name Charlton Howard, tends to shine. He started rapping immediately after his mom showed him Tupac's "Brenda's Got a Baby" video and he says he began taking music seriously right after being exposed to Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak, his preference project of all time."


within the past four years, he's made good on that early promise, touring and recording music at a quick pace. He also had some major help from Juice WRLD, who mentored him; The Kid Laroi opened for the late rapper throughout a string of live dates around his house of Australia. His 2020 album F*ck Love was just the starting — last month, he sang on Justin Bieber's "Unstable," too.


It all points to a solid foundation, one he hopes can be inspiring. "Don't think about what anybody else has to mention because me, personally, I went through so several kids and teachers and even family member members who notified me that I couldn't do it and I sucked, and I just had to stick through it," he says. "Don't let nobody get in your head."