I know that almost everyone on the face of the Earth has either heard “Stay” by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber, or at least seen the Colin Tilley-directed music video over the weekend, but considering it’s one of the biggest songs in existence right now, I couldn’t let the opportunity slip through my fingers to write about it. Opening up with some incredible production by a group of hitmakers including Cashmere Cat, Blake Slatkin, Omer Fedi, and Charlie Puth, we hear some slightly cheery, optimistic synths that are eventually leveled up with some poppy drums and sharp percussion for an unbelievably bouncy foundation.
LAROI comes in before the beat actually drops, though, taking control of things on his own and setting the tone before allowing the rest of the instrumental to carry him between different portions of the song. When the beat does drop, he incorporates a little bit more attitude and conviction behind his delivery which is a nice juxtaposition to the more upbeat production. Finally, Justin comes in for the second verse with a slightly less gritty, purer sound that comes through as pop-influenced as ever, and I don’t think this pairing could have gone any better even if they tried.
All in all, I was absolutely blown away by this record. I could have gone on for days talking about it but it simply speaks for itself, so I’m just excited to have a new song that I can run back on repeat until my ears bleed. However, when it comes to LAROI, I couldn’t be more blown away by his story and all of the success that he has seen come his way in just the past couple of years. He went from some wide-eyed teenager who had the world in the palm of his hand to an absolute superstar in what feels like the blink of an eye, and his talent is clearly at an all-time high as of late. “Stay” is going to be stuck in your head for months to come whether you like it or not, so make sure you check it out as soon as you possibly can so your ahead of the curve.