‘A perfect storm’: The Kid LAROI makes TMN Hot 100 history

Australian wunderkind rapper The Kid LAROI hit another high note on Friday, securing his 14th non-consecutive week at #1 on the TMN Hot 100 radio airplay chart.

The achievement for breakout single ‘WITHOUT YOU’ means he has secured more weeks at the summit than any other artist in the chart’s decades-long history.

‘WITHOUT YOU’ has now spent a total of 21 weeks on the TMN Hot 100, including 12 consecutive and 14 non-consecutive weeks at #1 after being briefly interrupted for two weeks by his Sony Music label mate Tones And I and her radio smash ‘Fly Away’.

The now LA-based artist, who last week inked a management deal with music industry powerhouse Scooter Braun, has called the milestone “crazy”.

“The record for #1 airplay back home? That’s crazy,” he told TMN.

“Thank you to radio for supporting me and thank you to my fans for your support. I love you guys and can’t wait to come home.”

The 3x Platinum ‘WITHOUT YOU’ is also #1 on TMN’s Australian artist and Indigenous airplay charts and currently sits at #11 on the ARIA Singles Chart after peaking at #1.

The weekly TMN Hot 100 airplay chart, powered by Radio Monitor, monitors over 200 radio stations in Australia and weights the data based on the reach of each spin.

The Kid is also surging closer to another history-making moment at radio.

If ‘WITHOUT YOU’ can withstand two more weeks at the summit, the 17-year-old’s global smash will become the longest-serving consecutive #1 by any artist in the chart’s history.

That record is currently held by Bernard Fanning’s 2005 earworm ‘Wish You Well’, which spent 13 weeks riding the top of the Australian airplay chart.

The milestone would also put the First Nations artist ahead of chart records by global hitmakers and heavyweights like P!NK, Maroon 5, Pharrell Williams, Ed Sheeran and Katy Perry.

The Nova radio network’s head of music, Scott Baker-Smith, told TMN that The Kid’s international success is the result of “a perfect storm” for the singer-songwriter and producer.

“It is superb to be in this moment of time seeing the record being broken and with this song in particular,” Baker-Smith said.

“It comes down to, as it always does, the strength of the song itself.

“‘WITHOUT YOU’ is so melodic, so strong, so hooky and such an earworm it ticks every box. Nova listeners’ love for it has never waned.

“I recall The Kid LAROI telling Smallzy he had been listening to Sia at the time for inspiration in putting the song together, so that influence helps.

“It is a perfect storm, he being part of a bedroom DIY pop generation, and the path being laid out in front of him from the likes of Post Malone, Billie, Bieber and others artists gone before their time, Juice WRLD, Lil Peep.”

The Kid reached a phenomenal one billion streams across his catalogue last November, according to Sony Music Australia, who first signed the artist when he was 13-years-old.

That number has since rocketed to over three billion streams globally (275m in Australia) across all the major music streaming platforms, leading to three ARIA nominations last year.

He also won Breakthrough Songwriter at this year’s APRA Music Awards.

The Waterloo-born rapper, who signed a global publishing deal with Sony Music in February, also became the youngest Australian solo artist to top the ARIA Albums Chart with a deluxe version of his mixtape F*ck Love (Savage), which also hit #3 on the US Billboard Charts.