The Kid LAROI - APEROL SPRITZ

The past few years have seen female pop stars own the music industry. Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Beyoncé, and Chappell Roan have dominated the charts and pop culture at large. All of this has led to a major vacuum when it comes to male pop stars. Sure, veterans such as Usher and Justin Bieber continue to have their devoted fan bases, but with Harry Styles, arguably the biggest male pop star, in between album cycles, there is definitely a dearth of male pop stars at the moment.

Enter The Kid LAROI, an Australian pop & r&b singer who is best known for his smash hit “Stay” with Bieber. In the past year, he has released several stand-alone singles to varying levels of success, with none reaching the top of the charts. Having listened to his recent single “APEROL SPRITZ”, I can understand why.

The Kid LAROI is from Australia and has only lived in America since 2019. However, I was surprised by this considering his accent. It was definitely reminding me a lot of Iggy Azalea, another famous Australian who cosplayed hip-hop caricatures and vernacular in order to seem edgy and cool. You would have thought that The Kid LAROI grew up in the mean streets of Chicago by the way he sings, but in reality, he grew up as the son of two parents who were major players in the Australian music industry. I’m not saying he’s an industry plant but it’s very clear he had a leg up in the beginning.

Ok, let’s get back to the song itself. Clocking in at two minutes and eight seconds, it’s a short one! Like most modern songs, it’s all about the streams so the shorter the song the better. It’s basically the chorus repeated throughout the song. The basic premise of the track is that The Kid LAROI enjoys drinking Hennessey while his girlfriend enjoys drinking Aperol Spritz (hence the title of the song) but despite their major differences, he only has eyes for her. While a cute and thoughtful idea, it’s very clear that this song is made towards TikTok and Instagram virality. To that I say, try again The Kid LAROI. At slightly over four million Spotify streams since it was released last week, this song is definitely not a hit. Here’s hoping he finds a more authentic sound and improved lyrical content in the future!