PRIVATE Lyrics – The Kid LAROI | from “BEFORE I FORGET”

This third-track stunner, penned solo by Charlton Howard himself, leans into his emo-rap sweet spot: hazy trap beats laced with acoustic whispers and those signature Auto-Tuned sighs that make vulnerability feel like a velvet punch. Clocking in around 2:44, it’s got that stripped-back pulse—think soft hi-hats over fingerpicked guitars, building to a chorus swell that hits like summer rain on a breakup drive.

Thematically, it’s all guarded hearts and stolen moments, grappling with the pull of keeping love locked away from prying eyes, that push-pull of “us against the world” turning into “just us, period.” No features to dilute the rawness; it’s LAROI at his most confessional, echoing the diary-scribble vibes of F*CK LOVE but matured, less scream, more simmer. Teased in snippets during his iHeartRadio preview last week, fans caught those breathy hooks and lost it on TikTok, stitching ’em to their own “what if we stayed secret” reels.

BEFORE I FORGET lives up to its name—a 15-track memory lane etched in neon, pulling from scrapped sessions post his 2023 The First Time era. It’s got the breezy opener “ME + YOU,” the reflective “JULY,” gut-wrenchers like “COME DOWN” and “A PERFECT WORLD,” plus collabs firing on “RATHER BE” with Lithe, Andrew Aged’s edge on a mid-album cut, and Clara La San adding soul to the close. No overarching gimmick, just Howard unpacking fame’s blur on real connections—love lost, lessons kept—over 40 minutes of genre-blending heat that nods to Post Malone melancholy without aping it. The tracklist billboard reveal on January 4 had X in a frenzy, and with signed CDs up for pre-order, it’s clear Columbia’s betting big on this as his glow-up statement.

At 22, LAROI’s hitting that post-teen reckoning hard—fresh off sold-out Aussie runs and a Vegas residency that blended tears with mosh pits, he’s trading viral hooks for deeper dives. The Sydney kid who blew up off “STAY” with Bieber is owning the scars now, therapy-fueled and tour-tested, proving he’s not just surviving the spotlight; he’s rewriting the script one hushed bar at a time.

Dive into the PRIVATE lyrics below and unpack its raw narrative. Don’t miss other BEFORE I FORGET tracks for more of The Kid LAROI’s introspective emo-rap vibes.