360 Talks Rehab, Recovery & The Restorative Power Of Recording His New Album 'Vintage Modern'

I’m so proud to say that this week pRhymeTime has a special new feel to it: a filmed, personal interview with one of Australia’s biggest rappers: 360.

By now, I’m sure you’ve noticed the abundance of events, promotions, editorial pieces and general conversation around mental health in music. Maybe you’ve just woken up to the #metoo campaign or RUOK Day but if you’re sick of hearing about it, I’m not sure you understand the sheer magnitude of the impact of mental health issues in our industry. This doesn’t just affect those who suffer directly; it’s about you and me. It’s about removing stigma around mental health care, and providing support in the simplest of ways to those feeling unwell, unsafe, misunderstood and suffering on a daily basis.

The music industry comes with pressures not dissimilar to those of any industry. It’s riddled with gross misogyny, entrenched with inexplicable inequality and the weight of public pressure is unfathomable when you’re there, in the spotlight, accompanied only by your passion for your chosen art form. But you’re not alone; none of us are.

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360 is an artist who, in his own words, has experienced the lowest of lows. Drug abuse, addiction and what I can only imagine is a loss of identity (to put it lightly)... His debut album Falling & Flying saw him do both those things, just perhaps not in the order he expected. But this artist, this person, this creative individual also experienced something so rarely seen in a position of social stature: he climbed his way back.

"When I got off all the drugs and shit like that, I was just kind of quiet about it," he tells PrhymeTime. "No one really knew what happened when I had that little overdose and my tour got cancelled and stuff like that. No one knew why and no one knew what happened, and I wasn't comfortable to talk about it.

"After I was a year clean, I was in a really good state of mind and I was ready to talk about it and shit like that, and then my mum actually said, 'You're coming up to being a year clean,' and I was like, 'Shit! I haven't told anyone about this,' and I went downstairs and just started writing it. Then on the day, I just went nuts and just wrote the majority of it in half an hour; it just all poured out of me, and I just recorded it and put it straight out. It kind of organically happened, I guess. It made me want to reach out and tell everyone exactly what had happened and what was going on."

360 is a testament to refusing failure. He’s addressed his own demons and is now building a bridge for you to do the same. Unapologetic in his address, he’s normalising a conversation that millions of us will experience in our daily lives, be that social inequity, substance abuse, violence, racism, miscarriage, anxiety, depression, insecurities of all facets. Perhaps you’ve already experienced them. As I said, you’re not alone. None of us are.

"As soon as I got out of rehab, working out became another addiction for me, but I guess it was a positive one," he says. "I don't think I'll ever stop being an addict; I'm constantly… there's something that I'm doing and I'm going always hard at it, but now I just keep away from all drugs and any substance … so I've turned my addictions into more positive ones, like making music or going to the gym. But the gym's more just helped me mentally; it's just been a real positive vice for me.

"But the thing is, when you talk about body image and shit like that, at the same time, when I was making this album, I fell off from going to the gym; I lost all my progress and stuff like that … and I'd just been put on a course of medication by my psychiatrist which made me gain so much weight. So I did a video with Pez called They Try To Tell Me, and I saw the video, and I was a lot bigger than I was; I was like, 'Holy shit!' and the comments on it were just like, 'This fuckin' fat cunt, he's fuckin' huge now,' and as soon as I saw that, that smashed me man. It makes me so self-conscious. It's something that definitely hits you.

"I don't think people understand, you know, even if someone's in the spotlight, no matter who it is … they're still humans. There's still times they're going to read a comment and they're going to take offence by it. People need to understand that words do have power sometimes, so watch what you say; don't be such a cunt."

His new album, Vintage Modern, is out today, and is a journey you’re invited to be privy to and experience for yourself. It’s uncomfortable and brilliant in its lyrical content, the production is world-class and, still, he hasn’t forgotten about what rap music can be; turning the volume up and losing your shit with the ones you hold dear.

"I had an album a year ago which was completely different," the rapper reveals about the record's genesis. "It was like, rapping over massive trap beats and all the tracks sounded real kind of American hip hop; what's current at the moment over there. And I wanted to make a modern-sounding album as far as the production goes, but bring a vintage element as far as the lyricism and rapping goes.

"We got into the studio here … and we made, like, five songs in a week, and we were just like, 'This is crazy,' but it totally flipped it. It went from being modern production to sounding like vintage production that sounds like it's from the '70s, like, old blues records and stuff like that. So it's totally reversed it, but it still has the same kind of concept in it. So it's like more vintage-sounding music with modern production and both a mix of both modern and vintage, as far as the rapping goes." 

I personally commend 360 with the utmost respect. The body of work released today will stand the test of time because it’s an introspective look at post-modernity. It’s authentic, creative, unique and so important to what we all deserve: a joyful life with a fuckin’ dope soundtrack.

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