Kid Krow

## Singles

1. "Checkmate"
Released: June 26, 2019
2. "Comfort Crowd"
Released: September 6, 2019
3. "Maniac"
Released: October 25, 2019
4. "The Story"
Released: January 10, 2020
5. "Wish You Were Sober"
Released: March 18, 2020

***Kid Krow*** is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Conan Gray. It was released on March 20, 2020, through Republic Records. The album is a "coming of age" record inspired by elements such as his rough childhood experiences of poverty, abuse, and discrimination. The album was supported by the singles "Checkmate", "Comfort Crowd", "Maniac", "The Story", "Wish You Were Sober", and "Heather".

Despite being ignored by several of the major music critics and publications, *Kid Krow* received critical acclaim; mostly for the production, honest lyrics and Gray's vocal performance. Commercially, it debuted at number 5 on the *Billboard* 200 and further topped the US Pop Albums Chart; also debuting at number 2 on the Top Album Sales chart. *Kid Krow* received a boost in sales and re-entered the charts of several countries when its track "Heather" became a sleeper hit after gaining popularity on the online platform TikTok.

## Background and Promotion

Conan confirmed the album was done during a talk session with Zach Sang. He then began to tease the album by posting photos everyday the week of January 5th, 2020, that had blank spaces with certain letters filled in (hinting to the album title). On the last day of the week, he released the single "The Story" and put the album up for pre-order.

Conan released the single "Checkmate" June 26th, 2019 as the first single off of this album, them "Comfort Crowd" September 6th, 2019, with "Maniac" then being released October 25th, 2019, and the final single "The Story" being released on January 10th, 2020.

## Critical reception

*Kid Krow* was met with positive reviews from crtitics after its release. Brendan Wetmore from *Paper* wrote, "At just 21 years old, [Gray] has managed to package the nostalgic loves, lusts, fears and triumphs of his peers into a 30-minute calming storm. Grab your tissues." Matt Collar of AllMusic wrote, "Even at Gray's most yearning and emotionally wrought moments, he's got the charisma to get you singing along." Piper Westrom of *Riff* wrote, "Tackling subjects that others wouldn't touch while balancing personal testimonials, Gray displays a mental serenity within his songs that project a bright future." Katy Mayfield of *Paste* described Kid Krow as "an album about the hurt and loneliness of reluctantly trying this whole 'love' thing but never letting yourself believe it'll do anything but hurt you," noting that "few of Gray's moments of vulnerability on [the record] come without an edge, whether that's self-hatred for said vulnerability or angry impulses to lash out at the pain-inducing object." Will Strickson of *DIY* described the album as "a collection of catchy choruses, big harmonies and lyrics straight out of a high school drama," and noted that "[Gray's] music is drawn from raw emotion and not a business plan, [which] makes it clear why he's already well on his way to being a 2020 icon." Gabe Bergado of *Teen Vogue* wrote that the album "shows off Conan's sonic versatility, the throughline being his thoughtful, vulnerable lyrics." Tobi Akingbade of *NME* reiterated colleague Sophie Williams' 2019 statement: "Gray glosses over millennial ennui with an innate, laid back charm; dreams are made and hearts are broken as he navigates the woes of adolescence with wistful nuance."

The album was noted to have drawn striking similarities to works by Lorde, and Taylor Swift, two of Gray's biggest inspirations. Taylor Swift reacted to the album on her personal Instagram story, writing: "Obsessed with this whole album, but THIS SONG ["Wish You Were Sober"] RIGHT HERE is a masterpiece. Not trying to be loud but this will be on repeat for my whole life." Gray responded to Swift's statement in all caps: "Thank you for being my lifelong songwriting inspiration and icon. I honestly feel like you raised me both as a writer and a human and I cannot express in words how much the means to me. Thank you for everything. Swifty for life."

## Release and promotion

Throughout the latter half of 2019, Gray released the singles as well as the accompanying music videos for "Checkmate", Comfort Crowd", "Maniac". In October 2019, he embarked on his Comfort Crowd Tour of North America with support from acclaimed New Zealand musician Benee as well as American recording artist UMI. The music video for "Maniac" featured an appearance from English actress Jessica Barden. In the second week of 2020, Gray teased fans online by tweeting daily hints about the title of his debut album. On January 9, 2020, Gray revealed the title of his debut album, *Kid Krow*, and wrote, "I say more on this album than I've ever said in my life, and I can't wait to tell you all of my secrets." Gray released "The Story", the fourth single off of the album later that day to coincide with the announcement of the album's name and track list. The music video for "The Story" was released a few days later. Without notice, Gray released the album's fifth single, "Wish You Were Sober" as a surprise, two days before the album's release. The album was released on March 20, 2020, through Republic Records in the US, and Island Records in the UK. The online domain "kidkrow.com" was used as an interactive live countdown website with live social media feeds embedded vertically along the sides of the web interface. The music video for the song "Heather" was released on August 20, before the song impacted contemporary hit radio in the UK as the sixth single from the album.

In February 2020, Gray announced the European leg of his *Kid Krow World Tour* with support from Bülow across cities such as Vienna, Oslo, Zurich, Warsaw, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Paris and Madrid. The tour was later postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Commercial performance

*Kid Krow* debuted at number five on the *Billboard* 200 with a total of over 49,000 album-equivalent units in the US, including 37,000 pure album sales Additionally, it debuted atop the US Pop Albums chart and number two on the Top Album Sales chart. In the US, it was the biggest new artist debut of 2020 as of September 2020, and was the biggest pop solo debut album in over two years since Camila Cabello's 2018 self-titled album. *Kid Krow* also became of the biggest debut studio albums in the first half of 2020 in the United Kingdom, and the sixth biggest debut album of 2020 in Ireland. The album debuted at number 30 on the UK Albums Chart as well as number 5 in Canada, number 26 in Australia, number 20 in Ireland, number 11 in Scotland and Lithuania, number 32 in New Zealand, 49 in Belgium (Flanders), 21 in Estonia and 94 in the Netherlands.

*Kid Krow* experienced a freefall on the *Billboard* 200 in its second week when it fell from number 5 to number 86, before dropping out completely in its third week. Several months later, the album received a global boost in sales after its track, "Heather" became a sleeper hit in mid-2020. It re-entered the chart in August 2020 and eventually rose to a stable position of around 60, where it stayed for approximately eight weeks. The success of "Heather" also caused *Kid Krow* to debut in the charts of countries such as Norway and Finland.

## Track list

There are currently 12 tracks on the album, it is unknown if there will be a deluxe version.

* Songs with a "\*" after the title are explicit, a clean version of the album will be released as well.
* Songs with "()" are interludes.

## Personnel

* Conan Gray – all vocals, writer (all tracks), additional/background vocals (tracks 1–3,5–7,10,12), producer (track 4), acoustic guitar (track 4,9)
* Daniel Nigro – producer (tracks 1,3,5,12), writer (track 3), bass (tracks 1,3–5,10), electric guitar (tracks 1–2,5,7–8,10,12), acoustic guitar (tracks 1,5–6,10,12), bass (tracks 1–3,8,12), drum programming (tracks 1–3,5–8,12), synthesizer (tracks 1–3,7–8,12), engineer (tracks 1–3,6–8,10,12), mixer (track 9)
* Ryan Linvil – drum programming (tracks 1,5), electric bass (tracks 5,7)
* Captain Cuts – producer (track 11), composer (track 11), guitar (track 11), drums (track 11), bass (track 11), lyricist (track 11)
* Mitch McCarthy – mixer (tracks 1,6–8,10,12)
* Chris Kasych – engineer (tracks 1,6–7)
* Jam City – assistant producer (track 10), guitar (track 10), engineer (track 10), drum programming (track 10)
* Sterling Laws – drums (tracks 1,6–7)
* Oscar Neidhardt – vocal engineer/editing (track 11)
* John Hanes – engineer (track 3)
* Serban Ghenea – mixer (tracks 2–3,11)
* Michael Freeman – additional mixer (track 5)
* Mark "Spike" Stent – mixer (track 5)
* Erick Sema – guitar (tracks 6–7)
* Kathleen – background vocals (track 12)
* Randy Merrill - mastering