Charlton Howard—the kid from Waterloo better known as The Kid LAROI—was barely a teenager when he started making waves. By the time his debut studio album The First Time dropped in late 2023, he wasn't just a SoundCloud prodigy anymore. He was a global force. But among the high-octane collaborations and the polished pop-punk riffs, one track stood out for its raw, almost uncomfortable vulnerability. How Does It Feel Kid LAROI is more than just a song title; it's a pointed, melodic interrogation of an ex-lover that basically redefined his sonic identity.
It’s heavy.
When you listen to the track, produced by the heavy hitters like Cirkut and Omer Fedi, you aren't just hearing a radio hit. You're hearing a 20-year-old grappling with the weird, warped reality of fame and the wreckage of a high-profile relationship. Honestly, the song feels like a late-night text you should never have sent but did anyway because the silence was too loud.
The Anatomy of a Breakup Anthem
Why does this specific track resonate? Most people think it’s just another "Stay" or "Without You" clone, but they're wrong. It’s grittier. The production on How Does It Feel strips back some of the glitz to let LAROI’s raspy, emotive delivery take center stage. He’s asking a question that anyone who has ever been dumped—only to see their ex move on to someone "better" on paper—has screamed internally.
"How does it feel to be with him?"
It is a simple premise. But the execution is what makes it sticky. He’s not just sad. He’s skeptical. He’s calling out the performative nature of new relationships in the age of Instagram and TikTok. LAROI has this knack for making his specific celebrity problems feel like universal teenage (and twenty-something) angst. You might not be flying on private jets to Tokyo, but you definitely know what it's like to check someone's story and feel that sharp kick in the chest.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Lyrics
There's a common misconception that this song is purely about bitterness. If you dig into the liner notes and his various interviews with Zane Lowe or Billboard, you realize it’s actually about the disorientation of success.
- The "Him" in the song isn't just a person. It’s a symbol of the "safe" choice.
- LAROI uses his vocals as a percussion instrument. Notice how he clips the ends of his words in the chorus? That’s intentional. It creates a sense of urgency and anxiety.
- The bridge is where the mask slips. He stops accusing and starts admitting his own confusion.
It’s messy. Life is messy. LAROI’s genius lies in his refusal to clean up the edges of his emotions. He’s been open about how The First Time was an attempt to show people who he actually is, rather than the "Justin Bieber's protégé" label the media forced on him for years. This song was the cornerstone of that rebrand.
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Production Secrets: Why It Sounds So "Close"
The mix on the track is incredibly "dry." In music production terms, that means there isn't a ton of reverb or echo on his voice. It sounds like he’s standing three inches from your ear. This was a deliberate choice by the engineering team. They wanted the listener to feel the "spit" and the "grit" in his throat.
Think about the contrast. Most modern pop is drenched in effects. By stripping those away, the team made the emotional stakes feel higher. It feels like a demo that was too good to over-produce. That's a rare move in an era where everything is quantized to death.
The Cultural Impact of the Kid LAROI’s Evolution
Let’s talk about the Australian influence for a second. LAROI didn't come from money. He came from a gritty suburb of Sydney, and that "outsider" energy permeates his work. When he asks How Does It Feel, there’s a sense of "I made it, but at what cost?" throughout the track.
His fans, often Gen Zers who grew up with him, see their own parasocial relationships mirrored in his lyrics. We’ve watched him grow from a kid with a bowl cut opening for Juice WRLD to a fashion icon sitting front row at Milan Fashion Week. The song acts as a bridge between his old self and this new, colder reality.
It’s fascinating to watch.
Real Talk: The Song’s Place in Music History
Will this song be remembered like "Stay"? Probably not in terms of raw numbers. "Stay" was a statistical anomaly—a diamond-certified juggernaut. But "How Does It Feel" is the track that earned him respect from the "serious" music critics. It proved he could carry a narrative. It showed he wasn't just a hook-machine; he was a songwriter.
Critics from Rolling Stone and NME noted that his vocal performance on this track showed a maturity that was missing from his earlier mixtapes. He stopped trying to sound like his idols and started sounding like himself. That’s the moment a "content creator" becomes an "artist."
How to Actually "Listen" to the Track
If you want to appreciate the depth here, don't just play it through your phone speakers while you're doing dishes. Do this instead:
- Put on high-quality headphones.
- Listen for the bass line in the second verse. It’s subtly melodic, almost mimicking a heartbeat.
- Pay attention to the vocal layers. In the final chorus, there are about four different tracks of LAROI singing at different intensities. It creates a "wall of sound" effect that mirrors a mental breakdown.
Common Questions and Fact-Checking
People often ask if the song is about his high-profile breakup with influencer Katarina Deme. While he hasn't explicitly confirmed every single line is about her, the timeline of the recording and the release of The First Time makes it pretty obvious to anyone paying attention. However, LAROI has always maintained that his music is a "collage" of experiences. It’s rarely just about one person. It’s about a feeling.
It’s about the vibe of being replaced.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Creators
If you’re a songwriter or just a fan trying to understand why this song works, here are the takeaways.
Vulnerability is Currency
In 2026, listeners can smell "fake" from a mile away. The Kid LAROI succeeded with this track because he sounded genuinely hurt. If you’re creating anything—art, music, even a social media post—lean into the parts that make you uncomfortable. That’s where the gold is.
Vary Your Texture
The song works because it moves. It starts small and ends big. In your own work, don't stay at a "10" the whole time. You have to give the audience a "1" so that the "10" actually matters.
Timing Matters
The release of this song coincided with a shift in the music industry away from "perfect" pop toward "indie-sleaze" and "raw" aesthetics. LAROI timed his pivot perfectly.
The Next Step for Your Playlist
To truly understand the lineage of this sound, you need to hear what influenced it. Don't just stop at the Kid LAROI.
- Listen to Juice WRLD’s Goodbye & Good Riddance. This is the blueprint for the "melodic emo" sound that LAROI perfected.
- Check out Post Malone’s Austin album. It shares a similar DNA of stripping back the rap elements for a more singer-songwriter feel.
- Watch the "How Does It Feel" music video again. This time, look at the color grading. The cold blues and harsh whites are a visual representation of the song's emotional temperature.
Go back and listen to the track with fresh ears. Focus on the lyrics in the second verse where he mentions the "pictures on your phone." It’s a tiny detail, but it’s the kind of specific, "human-quality" writing that makes a song live forever in someone's head.
The Kid LAROI isn't going anywhere. He’s just getting started. If "How Does It Feel" is the baseline for his "mature" era, the next few years are going to be wild for Australian music on the global stage.
Next Steps for Further Exploration:
- Analyze the BPM: The song sits at around 140-150 BPM (depending on how you count the half-time), which is the sweet spot for "energetic sadness."
- Study the Lyrics: Look at the lack of a traditional rhyming scheme in some sections; LAROI prioritizes rhythm and "mouth feel" over perfect rhymes.
- Follow the Producers: Look up Omer Fedi’s other credits to see how he helped shape the "Los Angeles sound" of the mid-2020s.