The Kid Laroi is all grown up on his homecoming The First Time Tour

After his song Girls leaked online, The Kid Laroi decided not to try and fight it and instead chose to see it as an opportunity.

The 21-year-old rapper and singer-songwriter says the TikTok leak, was a learning experience as, like many other artists, he uses the video-sharing platform to tease new material.

“Once you tease something, you gotta be ready to release it,” he tells Play via Zoom.

“Fans obviously don’t love waiting for something after they hear it and I think that’s important to give it to them when they want it. But also I learnt that, with the song Girls, it started popping off through a leak, and people like the leaked sound, and then we were like, OK, now we just gotta figure out a way to put this out.

“I was just in the mood where I just want to, for a second, just make some stuff that’s just not sad and serious, I’m in a fun, really happy space.

“I’m having a great time. I just want to make music that’s not serious, that people can have fun to.”

Laroi, was born in New South Wales and was known as Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, before adopting his stage name. This month he returns to his home country on a national tour in support of his debut studio album, The First Time.

Following shows on the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Sydney, he will play RAC Arena on November 20 before heading to Adelaide, Hobart and Melbourne.

“Perth turns up, Perth goes crazy,” he says. “I love Perth. Weirdly enough, I have a lot of music friends from Perth.”

The upcoming shows expand on the homegrown hero’s first-ever headline Australian tour in 2022, which saw Laroi add multiple extra arena shows due to overwhelming demand.

Two years later and with a 31-date North American tour and NRL grand final performance under his belt, his legion of Aussie fans will have the chance to witness some of his hits like 2021 ARIA Award-winning collab with Justin Bieber, Stay, to his near-on one billion streamed smash, Without You, his 2023 chart-burner Love Again and of course, Girls.

He has also just released his latest song Aperol Spritz.

Laroi, who is a Kamilaroi man, is keen to be back performing in Australia but admits nerves have been brewing.

“I’m nervous a little bit, right? I mean, honestly, I think anything to do with coming home, I feel really nervous because I don’t want to let anybody down. I feel this responsibility to make everything perfect,” he says.

Taking to the stage in front of thousands and seeing their reactions to the young star’s music is what Laroi says is one of the biggest pay-offs as a musician.

“When you make music, it’s such a special process and then sometimes releasing the music is a vulnerable thing to do, right? You’re putting yourself out there to be judged. And so sometimes you can get caught up in do people like this? Do people not?” he says.

“And then when you get to see people in real life expressing how they feel about the music and seeing the reaction. I mean, it’s just unbeatable.”

He’s been garnering an even bigger reaction from fans after he confirmed his relationship with Canadian pop star Tate McRae in April.

McRae, 21, even brought out Laroi for a duet of his song, Without You, at her Madison Square Garden concert while on her North American tour.

It has Australian fans wondering if the young lovers will pull a similar stunt in Australia as the pair will be here on their tours at the same time.

When asked about his girlfriend, Laroi’s eyes light up. He has nothing but praise for the singing and dancing sensation dubbed the new Britney Spears.

“I think she’s awesome and incredible, and I think this stuff she has coming is just really sick,” he says. “And I’m really excited for her, but some of the music I’ve heard is incredible. And I’m just really excited for this next chapter of her career.”

Laroi’s new album follows on from the rapper’s debut 2020 mixtape F... Love, which sees him rebranding his sound into a style befitting of his international celebrity status.

While creating the project, Laroi was torn between feelings of passion and pleasing people telling him what to do.

“It came to this point where I was like, I’m just going to do what I want to do and what I love.

“When I put the album out, the immediate reaction from fans was great, but it didn’t have a big song off of it . . . eight months later, Nights Like This, one of my favourite songs on the album started blowing up.

Laroi took that as a “sign” his decision to lead with love as opposed to conforming to others’ plans was right.

“Good music always wins,” he says.

“It told me a lot about (how) I make music because I love it, not because I need gratification from it.”

Taking the world by storm quickly, the award-winning artist has assured fans he will “just keep making music, putting it out, and hopefully keep performing and vibing out”.

The Kid Laroi plays RAC Arena on November 20