
When he was 14, The Kid LAROI (real name Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard) recounted his family history in a 2017 interview with Flame Media, revealing that he looked to his family tree to pick his stage name. "I'm part Aboriginal. I'm from the Kamilaroi tribe," he explained, adding that his hometown of Redfern, Australia was known for being an Aboriginal community. "My great-great-grandfather was part of the stolen generation," The Kid LAROI added.
His ancestor was sent to live with a white family, and was told that he was "Spanish" to hide his real heritage and rationalize his skin tone. However, his ancestor eventually realized the truth. As a result, the Kid LAROI's great-grandmother encouraged the rapper to "keep the [Aboriginal] culture going, whether that's through my music or sport, or whatever I want to do." The moniker "LAROI" is taken from "Kamilaroi," and thus pays tribute to The Kid LAROI's ancestry.
Since breaking onto the scene in 2017, The Kid LAROI has taken pride in his Indigenous Australian heritage. In 2021, he told Billboard of his future plans to make music that nods to his background. "I feel like as I keep going, people will start to see me more for me," he said. "I think that's already happening. Hopefully with this album, people will really start to separate me as my own person." Per The Guardian, The Kid LAROI also nabbed top honors at the National Indigenous Music Awards in 2021.
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