Centrelink To Stardom: 360's Financial Hardships

In this week's Drum Media cover story, Melbourne hip hop star 360 has admitted that he has only just stopped collecting dole payments. His Falling and Flying album reached number four on the ARIA charts and has achieved platinum sales status, while one of the singles from it, Boys Like You, has gone platinum three times over.

“It was a long road but I got there in the end. People perhaps don't realise but I was living on Centrelink payments until very recently – even after the album came out. So to now enjoy some success and to be able to show my parents that I did achieve what I set out to do is an incredible feeling.”

But when asked by writer Mark Hebblewhite if he can pinpoint a moment where he felt successful, 360 – real name Matt Colwell – says it had nothing to do with money.

“Yeah I can but it's strange because that moment wasn't the one you'd expect it to be. I was told my stuff was playing on the radio; another time I was told I'd achieved Platinum sales – but it wasn't those moments or any like them that finally did it. Things really hit home to me when I saw my mum cry at one of my shows. The fact that she'd been there through all my struggles and was now feeling that way about what I'd achieved was really special.”

Colwell also eludes to new material he has been working on, letting it slip that he has spent some time in London with Jake Gosling, famous for his work with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Wiley.

The rapper is about to embark on a mammoth tour of the country with numerous shows in all cities already sold out.

Read the story here.