The Kid LAROI has finally done something interesting. After months of trading barbs with Tate McRae through increasingly pointed tracks, he’s ditched the usual rap-pop playbook for “A Perfect World,” and honestly? It’s the best thing he’s released in ages.
This doesn’t sound like a 2025 pop single. It sounds like someone raided their dad’s George Michael collection and decided to make something actually good with it.
The production is pure 90s R&B, all silky basslines and warm synths, and LAROI’s vocals sit right in the pocket.
He’s actually singing here, without drowning everything in Auto-Tune. There’s a confidence to it that makes you wonder why he didn’t try this sound earlier.
The song is basically LAROI fantasizing about a reality where they could have made it work.
He’s acknowledging the mess, the toxicity, the fact that he somehow became the villain in her story, but he’s still stuck on the “what if.”
It’s the kind of track you write when you’re past the anger but not quite over it. He gives her time to think, questions how they got here, wonders if sticking it out could have changed anything.
This follows “A Cold Play” from September, where he basically admitted he couldn’t fix her.
McRae responded with “Tit For Tat” and hasn’t let up since. Now LAROI’s back with something that sounds less like a clapback and more like an actual reflection.
It’s grown-up pop about messy situations, and it works because he’s not playing the victim or throwing shade. He just sounds tired and a bit wistful.
The retro production gives the whole thing room to breathe. It’s a smart move, stepping away from the overcrowded pop sound and doing something that actually stands out.
If the rest of BEFORE I FORGET sounds like this, it might be worth paying attention to.
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