Complete 180: Rapper 360 credits God for return to stage

Perth Now

17 hours ago

Matt Colwell has been to hell and back.
The 38-year-old Aussie rapper, better known by his stage name 360, has surfed the euphoric highs and suffered the lonely lows of fame.
Surging to the charts in 2008 with his album What You See Is What You Get, the Melbourne-based artist's 2011 follow-up Falling & Flying scored him ARIA recognition as 2012's Breakthrough Artist.
Collaborating with rock star Daniel Johns, and even supporting Eminem on tour in Australia in 2014, 360's trajectory was the envy of many grass-roots rappers looking to break through.
However, the title of his second album proved true, with the star succumbing to crippling substance abuse and mental health battles in the ensuing years.
'It was like the fame, the money, the sex, the status, the houses and all that were just these things that I was always working towards having more of,' he tells PLAY. 'Nothing was ever enough.'
Controlling his vices in the early years as a 'functioning addict', the rap artist says it all began to unravel when he became a 'depressed mess' and had gained 35kg.
'It got to the point where if I kept going down the path I was on, I was 100 per cent going to die,' he says. 360. Credit: Michelle Grace Hunder
'I spoke to my parents and just said, 'look, I've got to go to rehab'. And that was five years ago.'
The star's journey to redemption has been built on a holy trinity of spiritual awakening, prioritising mental health, and regaining a hardness to his 6'4' frame as a former basketball player.
However, the born-again Christian has most publicly credited God for finding himself again. But the irony that he once undermined religion in his music is not lost.
'I openly mocked Jesus Christ,' he admits. 'There's a number of my songs where I talk about God in quite a harsh way.'
Now, instead of dropping the Lord's name in vain, the reformed rapper proudly carries his faith in the form of a cross around his neck.
Unfortunately, 360's complete 180 from party boy to church-goer was a difficult pill for some fans to swallow.
'I lost thousands of followers (on social media) within the first week of sharing about it,' he says.
'I was kind of expecting it, but I also wasn't expecting the level of support that I was going to get. I thought I was going to lose everyone, but the support has been incredible.'
With 360's upcoming fifth album Out Of The Blue set to drop on July 11, his early release Save My Soul rediscovers a knack for melding hard-hitting verses with catchy melodies. And weaved among the fast-moving bass line, he's owning up to his mistakes.
Sodom & Gomorrah, another release, symbolises the rapper's emergence from the ashes of his formerly sinful lifestyle and the death of his destructive behaviours.
But 360 doesn't label his new music 'Christian rap'; rather the same familiar style delivered by a man whose view of the world has shifted. And his joy in making music recaptured.
As recently as only two or three years ago, he reveals, there was still very little hope his voice would return at all.
'I was living in grayscale, and suddenly this colour was coming back into my life,' Colwell says. 'A lot of this album was channelled from that place of feeling like I actually feel good, I actually feel happy, I feel healthy.'
Embarking on his biggest national tour since the 2010s, 360 is set for a run of shows across the country this winter, ending at Perth's Metro City on August 2. 360. Credit: Michelle Grace Hunder
Supported by Pez, a close mate from his teenage years who followed a similar path to hip-hop, 360's crowd might look a little different to 15 years ago.
And this time, the once stalwart of Australia's rap scene takes his position as a role model seriously. Because he's far more aware how literally his message can be received.
'I had someone reach out to me and go, 'Man, I'm so happy you've become Christian. When I was 15, me and my mates used to listen to your music and you're the reason we started doing drugs',' he says.
'When I heard that, I was just like, 'brother, I do not like that'.'
Tackling his issues head on, and sharing them with those who might also be struggling, Colwell now hopes he can be a vessel for good.
'I think the values that I have now and the person that I've become, I do think it's a lot more worthy of looking up to than the person that I was,' he says.