Artists to Watch in 2019: The Kid Laroi

I could start off this piece by talking about the state of hip-hop in Australia, but I think it's blatantly obvious that the genre in this country has seen a renaissance of sorts over the last few years. With artists like Tkay Maidza, Kwame, Midas.Gold and a bunch of other notable acts successfully breaking out of the stereotype of what it means to be an Australian artist making hip-hop, the perception of the genre altogether has undergone one of the biggest cultural shifts Australian music has ever seen.

As with any style of music, every year sees a new generation of artists putting themselves out there and sharing with the world their sounds and ideas. 2018 saw more innovation and excitement than ever, and one artists we couldn't look away from is 15 year old wunderkind THE KID LAROI.

Last year saw the Waterloo rapper share his debut EP, 14 With A Dream. As you can tell by the name, he put this one together at the ripe old age of 14 - kickstarting what would be a whirlwind of a year.

The EP saw The Kid Laroi give heavyweight hip-hop acts a run for their money through his introspective and highly emotional words, as well as his ability to switch between polyrhythmic flows and melodic choruses with such ease.

For the EP, he worked with Sydney hip-hop producer Miracle who has also worked alongside the likes of Manu Crook$. The pair made some stellar sounds together, with Miracle's style of production perfectly complimenting what The Kid Laroi was putting down.

The year saw The Kid Laroi put together his live show and deliver his sounds to audiences across Sydney and to his first ever interstate show too. To give you a quick run down of what he got up to this year, he supported LA RnB duo THEY. in both Sydney and Melbourne, more recently supported Juice Wrld in both Sydney and Melbourne, jumped on stage with Manu Crook$ at Listen Out in Sydney and with Tkay Maidza at triple j's One Night Stand, jumped in the studio with 6lack, has a forthcoming track with Lil Skies and more recently, was invited to play as part of Zane Lowe's Beats One showcase that went down late last year alongside Kwame and Kaiit.

Phew. What a year!

Can you imagine what 2019's going to be like for him? The Kid Laroi is unstoppable.

Photo by Billy Zammit

Words by CAITLIN MEDCALF

READ MORE ARTISTS TO WATCH HERE

SEE ALSO

GET TO KNOW: THE KID LAROI

GET TO KNOW: TASMAN KEITH