The Kid Laroi swept up at this year’s Billboard Music Awards, held in Las Vegas on Sunday.
The Australian rapper won multiple awards for his hit single “Stay ft. Justin Bieber.”
Laroi, 18, real name Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, won Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song and Top Collaboration.
The winner is! The Kid Laroi (pictured at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in LA in March) swept away at this year’s Billboard Music Awards, held in Las Vegas on Sunday
He also won awards for Top Billboard Global 200 Song and Top Billboard Global (Excl. US) Song, bringing his honors tally to five.
Although he was not present at the ceremony, the teenage hip-hop star took to Instagram to thank his peers and fans.
Laroi shared a photo of himself shirtless at home while holding a stack of clumsily photoshopped Billboard Music Awards.
Dream team: The Australian rapper won multiple awards for his hit single Stay ft. Justin Bieber
“Thank you @bbmas and thank you to the beautiful family for making it happen!” he wrote.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there today. A thank you to the [goat emoji] @justinbieber love you man.’
After growing up in a block of flats in Waterloo, Sydney, Laroi started rapping at the age of 13, mainly to help deal with family troubles.
Lots of thanks: Although he wasn’t present at the ceremony, the teenage hip-hop star took to Instagram to thank his peers and fans
He eventually moved to Los Angeles with his family in 2020 after securing a recording deal with Sony Music.
In an interview with Rolling Stone last October, Laroi opened up about his humble beginnings and inspiration.
“My mom used to play a lot of hip-hop around the house. She also played Erykah Badu and Fugees, Tupac, Kanye [West],’ he said.
Winner: Laroi, 18, real name Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, won Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song and Top Collaboration. (Pictured on stage in Los Angeles in April)
“As I got older and went through certain things, I started to relate to a lot of the lyrics. Then I just thought, “Damn, I could probably do this myself.”
Speaking to NME last July, Laroi said his collaboration with Justin Bieber, 28, came about after the superstar slipped into his DMs.
“I never actually asked him what he thought of my shit. One day he DMed me on Instagram and just said, “You got the sauce,” he said.
Chance encounter: Laroi said last year his collaboration with Justin Bieber, 28, came about after the superstar slipped into his DMs. Pictured: Laroi (second from left) and Justin (second from right) with their respective partners Katarina Deme (far left) and Hailey Bieber (far right)
“I replied back and said, ‘Yo, what’s up? I’m a big fan.” He liked my message and it was from there.
“Two months later he DMed me again and said, ‘Hey, what’s your number? I think I have the right song for us. let me send it to you.”
‘He sent [Unstable] to me and I thought, “This is crazy,” went [and] wrote the verse, sent it back and that was it.’
Clean up: He also won awards for Top Billboard Global 200 Song and Top Billboard Global (Excl. US) Song, bringing his honors tally to five. (Pictured on stage in Los Angeles in April)