Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Bee Gees, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Kurt Cobain, Metallica, Robbie Williams, Amy Winehouse… All these artists (whether still with us or not) are considered global music superstars. And all of them have been protagonists in movies exclusively dedicated to their careers at least once.
But how many 20-year-old musos can you name that have a documentary about them released on a streaming platform?
I reckon I know your answer to that question. That’s why you should watch Kids Are Growing Up: A Story About A Kid Named Laroi. It’s a rad account of how a teenager was rapidly catapulted to fame and everything (good and bad) that comes with it.
PART 177 OF “AM I EVER GONNA SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN?” A RANDOM COLLECTION OF UNKNOWINGLY OBVIOUS FACTS ABOUT AUSTRALIAN MUSIC SCENE
In 2019, when the documentary begins, very few people had an idea who Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, aka The Kid LAROI was. In 2024, if you still haven’t heard about the Sydney-born, LA-based singer and rapper, you’ve probably been living in a different galaxy.
And that – in a nutshell – is the premise of this movie released on Amazon Prime just last week.
But apart from a chronological account of events in The Kid LAROI’s life, this movie is also about something else, which is much bigger than global recognition.
It opens with a teenage Charlton in the front seat of a car, rapping about his hopes and life experiences.
And at that young age already, “shit’s been rough” for him back in Australia. No stable home, separated parents, constantly moving around, the presence of drugs, experiences of bullying, and hanging out with other kids in an area he later calls “a ghetto”.
It looks like the aspiring hip-hop artist with a partially Aboriginal heritage was dealt the wrong set of cards from the get-go. Yet, somehow, he managed to overcome all those obstacles. By being a tenacious and stubborn teen, he slowly translated his passion into tangible results, recording and performing as a rapper and collaborating with other artists in Oz.
Funnily, in that opening part of the film, he mentions wanting to become the next big thing for Australia and the world. His goal is “to spread good messages.” He goes on to say that “if things go right, it should happen for me within the next 2/3 years”.
If he only knew back then how prophetic those words would be. Because 2019 was also when the first significant chapter in The Kid LAROI’s story began.
This is roughly when I heard about the Aussie rapper as well. People in the biz started paying attention to his collaboration with Juice WRLD. Everyone also had an opinion on his move to the US to pursue his dream.
It was obvious the American hip-hop artist and the new environment had a huge impact on the young Aussie’s life and career at that point. Juice WRLD became his mentor and something of a “big brother” figure. When he passed away in dramatic circumstances in front of the young muso, The Kid LAROI was left shocked and unable to fully process this traumatic experience.
The Aussie rapper had never talked about his friendship with Juice WRLD in such detail before. So watching him open up about it in the doco was pretty special.
I’m sure you’ll agree it’s incredibly moving when a 20-year-old says about another 20-year-old who died of a drug overdose: “That shit and suffering he was going through at 19/20 years old, that should not be placed on anybody at that age.” He also adds on camera, visibly upset: “He had so much life left to live”.
Sadly, history has shown us many times that stardom can put unbearable pressure on a person. It becomes even more dangerous when vulnerable and easily impressionable young people are thrown into the deep, treacherous waters of the music industry.
So Juice WRLD’s death was, inadvertently, the first brutal lesson on the ups and downs of the celebrity life for the teenage Aussie muso.
LAROI then started getting the vibes of the music industry. At the same time, he didn’t feel comfortable participating in the game. Or, as he labels it, he didn’t feel like “doing the famous people’s shit”, including the red carpet appearances. He also realised at that point how big of a toll it can take on your mental health because fame is deceitful and makes people feel invincible.
“It’s intimidating because everyone looks up to you. And sometimes, you don’t even know what to say”, he admits in the film, confused. And then, he adds: “Money, fame, dreams coming true – that doesn’t resolve problems. It doesn’t stop them from happening. If anything, they just come on a bigger scale.”
With this bitter realisation enters chapter 2 of this story, which, paradoxically, propelled him further into stardom.
“Stay” with Justin Bieber was, without a doubt, one of the biggest songs of 2021. To date (March 6th 2024), it has been streamed nearly 3 billion times on Spotify alone. THREE. BILLION. TIMES.
Unsurprisingly, when the idea was toyed with at the beginning, nobody from the Aussie muso’s crew thought for a second that the pop megastar would agree to the collaboration.
And I gotta say it’s pretty cool to watch the two musos together in the doco. Their relationship goes from LAROI fanboying Bieber to them hanging out like two equals. And there’s a super humbling scene when Bieber tells LAROI he’s going to do “bigger things I ever did”.
“Stay” eventually took the young Aussie rapper to a whole new level of fame. I’d even risk a statement that it was THE moment when the true rock’n’roll life started for The Kid LAROI. Suddenly, everyone wanted to talk to and work with him.
He began performing at top-notch industry events, i.e. The Grammys. Other music celebs, like Ed Sheeran or Post Malone, praised his work. He was visiting popular late-night TV shows (like Jimmy Kimmel’s). And on SNL, he was introduced as a musical guest (Miley Cyrus’ buddy) by host Elon Musk himself.
He was doing never-ending radio interviews and public appearances. He was featured in numerous influential publications. He started playing in bigger venues. His gigs became bolder, rowdier and louder. He also bought a house in LA before turning 18. Crazy, right?
On the one hand, this story is not unheard of. We’ve seen artists blow up on such a big scale in a fairly short period before. Justin Bieber himself is the best example. On LAROI’s home turf, a similar thing has recently happened with Tones And I (a pop artist) or Tash Sultana (a blues and roots/indie muso).
What’s rare about this particular case is the genre the muso represents. I don’t know of any other globally recognisable Australian hip-hop artists, not now, and not in the past. Do you?
And I’m also saying that because I’ve watched the world’s reaction to LAROI’s rise.
In August 2022, I was meant to see the artist in London, where he was already set to perform in a decent-sized venue (the O2 Academy in Brixton). Sadly, one day before the gig, I found out I’d miss the show because my flight to London had been cancelled. (The runway at Luton airport had melted due to an unusual 40-degree Celsius heatwave – not a joke!).
I didn’t want the ticket to go to waste, so I transferred it to a 15-year-old son of a friend of mine. And do I have to add that the boy was beyond stoked to go to his first-ever gig of this format? And to see THE KID LAROI on top of that? I scored a “cool aunt” status for life, I reckon.
But back to “Stay”. After the collab’s overwhelming success, everyone wanted to know about the friendship with Justin Bieber and what would come for the young Aussie after that mind-blowing chapter.
That last question was troubling LAROI heaps as well. The external pressure and enormous stress related to how fans and the industry would react to the next thing got to him again.
No wonder he had existential doubts, though. He found himself in an unusual situation. He got so big without even releasing an album yet. At the same time, one of his songs was included in the record-breaking Barbie movie. And he got to perform at Coachella. So in the doco, he says frankly: “You anticipate your life to a certain point. And then you get there, and then you’re like: What do I do now?”
Including so many personal topics in this documentary, like the mental health struggles, rebuilding the relationship with his father (also a musician), his then-girlfriend being his rock, having frequent mood changes or doubting himself is worth applauding. And the part where The Kid LAROI openly talks about being suicidal and having a therapist when he hadn’t even turned 20 yet is literally heart-wrenching.
All those intimate moments are necessary to grasp the doco’s message, though. The way the film is structured amplifies that private sphere of LAROI’s life, too.
When we follow the story, it’s just a regular documentary. But when the protagonist’s thoughts, feelings and commentary on the world come into play, they’re presented as a cartoon. That way, we get a more personal insight into the rapper’s world and headspace, often contrasted with the craziness and hype around him.
Despite the movie touching on serious topics, there are humourous parts of that cartoon commentary as well. At one point, his avatar pauses a clip with LAROI looking like a schoolboy to say: “Hold on a second. Who the f**k let me have this haircut? So bad!”
Those unexpected shifts in the narration’s mood balance out the whole story and make it feel a little lighter. After all, the movie is about coming of age, in a sense.
So, chapter 3 is all about LAROI realising the role he plays in people’s lives today.
He states in that part of the doco: “Oftentimes, I don’t realise the impact that you can make as a musician or an artist. It keeps me going that there’s people out there that might need that.” From the way he describes it, you can tell he treats his music industry adventure, which continues to be his passion, like a mission. And he feels he’d let people down if he stopped now.
So we finally get to see the more positive side of The Kid LAROI’s life and career.
How genuinely overjoyed and surprised he is when fans rock up to the venue hours before his shows.
How pumped and excited he is to write music.
How focused and hard-working he becomes in the studio.
How happy and proud he feels when his songs are streamed hundreds of thousands of times within minutes of their release.
How much he enjoys being surrounded by the people who genuinely love and support him with no hidden agenda.
And how touched and nostalgic he is upon returning to Australia as the “hometown hero” he always wanted to be.
For me, the most impactful and relatable scene is towards the end of this chapter, though.
LAROI meets a very nervous young fan backstage and chats with him, giving him advice about believing in yourself. The boy then tells LAROI in return that his music makes him really happy.
Isn’t it amazing how the tide can change in a matter of 2/3 years? At only 20, the young Aussie has come full circle, stepping into mentor’s shoes. So soz for being so predictable, but I shed a tear (or two) watching that scene.
There’s one thing that I reckon sums up the message in this movie pretty well.
In the beginning, The Kid LAROI says: “Through this documentary, people will learn more about me. But they will learn even more if they pay more attention to the music.”
So, I’m here to encourage you to follow the Aussie muso’s advice, ladies and gents.
Once you’ve watched the 85 minute-film, go and spend some time with his songs. The lyrics will definitely tell you heaps about how that kid hanging out in Sydney’s rough suburbs grew up to become the global phenomenon we know as The Kid LAROI today.
P.S. Kudos to the doco makers for featuring another of my fave Aussie acts in the film. Hilltop Hoods’ song “Leave Me Lonely” plays in the background during one of the cartoon scenes.
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