Spotify gives Australia’s The Kid LAROI a major global boost

The Kid LAROI’s global prospects just got a boost courtesy of Spotify.

The streaming giant made the 17-year-old Los Angeles-based rapper and Sony Music act the third face of its emerging artist RADAR series in the US.

He has 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and his name adorns Spotify playlists like RapCaviar, Pop Rising, Most Necessary, Internet People, Tear Drop and Hot Rhythmic.

Being a RADAR artist means he gets featured in the RADAR playlist, a Spotify Singles recording, promotional support, a full suite of on-platform marketing, and social promotion.

A mini-documentary will also premiere in November.

The doco will recount the story of how Charlton Howard was born in Sydney to a mother of First Nations descent and a French father, and grew up in a housing commission listening to US hip hop and rap in between skirmishes on the street.

“The Kid LAROI is an artist we’ve been watching closely for the last eighteen months,” Spotify’s head of global hits Ned Monahan said.

“LAROI developed a rabid fanbase in Australia, and then translated it to an even bigger audience in the US, which is incredibly rare and speaks to his potential as a global hitmaker.

“The vulnerability and boldness of his music places him at the heart of young music audiences across the world. We can’t wait to see LAROI break on a superstar level.”

The RADAR support follows that accorded to Alaina Castillo and J.I The Prince of N.Y.

His releases include mentor JuiceWRLD collaborations ‘Go’, ‘Wrong’ and ‘Hate The Other Side’ with Marshmello, as well as offerings with Lil Tecca, Lil Mosey and Internet Money.

Howard originally signed to Sony Music Australia at age 12, before getting picked up by Columbia in a joint venture with Lil Bibby’s Grade A productions.

In the US, his debut ‘Fuck Love’ debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with 40,000 combined units, and at #12 in the UK.

In Australia, where his debut mixtape reached #3 on the ARIA chart, he has three nominations in the 2020 ARIA Awards. His new single ‘So Done’ hits DSPs and radio today (October 23).