ChillinIt, the Lebanese-Australian grime superstar, occasionally reminisces about his time as the anonymous air conditioner mechanic Blake Turnell. “When I was an apprentice in someone’s roof, I was like, ‘I wish I was a rapper on stage, killing it, doing all this stuff,’” he reminisces.
“Now, I still love that, but I find myself having small moments going, ‘I’d love to just have less pressure on my shoulders and be back in that roof.’”
The genial ChillinIt is relaxing at home in Sydney as he chats about his third album ‘Family Ties’, which dropped last Friday, with NME via Zoom, with his bashful younger brother (and now DJ/producer) bbrock for company. Perched on a newly purchased royal-blue velvet chair, bong at hand, the MC flashes a broad smile, black-rimmed glasses and crisp Balenciaga knit.
ChillinIt recently treated his BFF, the cult rapper Huskii, to some of fame’s perks. “Huskii was having a bit of a bad day, so I took him shopping and we spent about 20 grand at Moncler,” he flosses. “I woke up the next day, like, ‘What the fuck did I just do?’”
In 2018 ChillinIt burst out of the underground with the DIY debut ‘Women Weed & Wordplay’, spawning – with no help from the radio – the double-platinum hits ‘Wish You Well, Pt 2 (It’s A Vibe)’ and ‘One Breath One Take’. He’s since received mainstream validation, appearing on triple j’s Like A Version (covering BROCKHAMPTON’s ‘SUGAR’ alongside Triple One’s Lil Dijon) and joining veterans Bliss n Eso on their single ‘OG’s’.
ChillinIt rarely grants interviews, but it isn’t about generating mystique or exclusivity. Rather, he approaches his career “organically”, communicating directly with his fervent fandom – dubbed The 420 Family, like his label brand – on Instagram. “I’m a good businessman, I think.” But he’s still keen to spruik ‘Family Ties’, led by the single ‘Henny & Reefer’, which went viral in April, and featuring regular cohorts Huskii, Wombat and Lisi, as well as HP Boyz’ Mwayz plus Brits Izzie Gibbs and Shxdow.
‘Family Ties’ shows ChillinIt’s breadth musically, lyrically and emotionally as he explores themes of kinship, loyalty, love, transformation and self-belief. “‘Women Weed & Wordplay’ was a young man in front of the camera who’d just got this advance from $13 an hour as an apprentice to hundreds of thousands of dollars and women, attention, everywhere,” he explains. “I was crazy and wild and that has an effect on you.
“I think that this album represents that same hunger and mentality that I attacked that album with, but with a level of maturity and wisdom of a man and a role model.”
“‘Women Weed & Wordplay’ was a young man in front of the camera who’d just got this advance from $13 an hour as an apprentice to hundreds of thousands of dollars and women, attention, everywhere”
‘Family Ties’ is also a decided cut above his 2020 sophomore album ‘The Octagon’, which reached number 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart and scooped an AIR Award. “‘The Octagon’ was the biggest learning experience, because that was where I tried to capture a ‘project’.” But ChillinIt feels he “lost” himself in the concept. “I tried to paint something too much.”
The new album isn’t “perfectly clean – it’s definitely as dirty as ChillinIt can be, but it’s a lot more mature and there’s a lot more wisdom,” he declares. “I can confidently say 420 per cent, this is my best album, without a doubt.”
ChillinIt was raised in the multicultural suburb of Hurstville in Sydney’s South. Under peer pressure, a teen ChillinIt was introduced to drugs, winding up in rehab and leaving school prematurely. An aspiring MC, he uploaded tracks on SoundCloud. “My heart always vibed with music and art and connecting with people around the world through lyrics,” he says. “So once, at about 15, 16, that I found that connection, I basically just never looked back.”
ChillinIt “wanted to be a firefighter so bad” growing up, and was even briefly an NRMA insurance rep. Ultimately, he became an air-con technician, spending four years as a tradie that helped him learn focus. “That taught me a lot of life skills and a lot of business skills as well.”
ChillinIt freely acknowledges his scandals and setbacks – notably drug dependency, being arrested for cocaine possession in February. Over winter, he copped heat after railing at NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian over Sydney’s COVID-19 lockdown extension in his Instagram Stories (he walked back his comments a day later). He’s been in the process of kicking a cocaine habit, he reveals, that he says he developed from being on the road.
“It just happened – it was very blindsiding and I didn’t really pay attention to the habit that was building up,” he admits. “You’re going back-to-back touring and you’re using drugs to get through night-by-night – you don’t realise the addiction you’re building.”
The drug was taking a toll on his artistry, ChillinIt realised, after he stealth-dropped the mixtape ‘Full Circle’ in late 2020. Its standard was “poor”, he says now, because of all the coke he had been imbibing.
ChillinIt says he’s now off cocaine, only smoking weed and legal herbs. “Pretty much the whole of 2021, I’ve been sober – apart from a sneaky party here or two. But I’ve been very, very good.”
“My biggest ambition is to continue to be happy and just continue my journey”
Inevitably, ChillinIt’s conduct has been sensationalised by tabloids. “Sometimes I feel disrespected by some of the comments that are made by media that aren’t true,” he explains, particularly irked at inaccurate court reporting. In ‘Family Ties’ opener ‘The Full Story’, he references an internal struggle between angels and devils. The track features Sticky Fingers frontman Dylan Frost, a guest spot that wasn’t publicised pre-release (ChillinIt opened for the band in 2019).
Asked about so-called ‘cancel culture’ and increased scrutiny of lyrical content in hip-hop, ChillinIt – who has copped criticism for casual misogyny in his previous records – returns to the subject of his marketing acumen. “I guess that’s where I’m a smart businessman,” he responds. “If you notice, through my social media, I’m very cautious. Even now during this discussion, I’m very verbally and politically smart in the choice of words that I use.
“I’m able to push the envelope a bit further lyrically, because, outside of that envelope and spectrum, I’m very cautious and conscious of the moves that I make,” he says, from “how detailed I am to disclaimers on posts and liaising with security staff and liaising with venues and liaising with the right marketers”.
At any rate, throughout ‘Family Ties’, ChillinIt expresses an emotional vulnerability at odds with hip-hop’s dominant hyper-masculinity. The R&B ballad ‘You & Yourself’ is “a very deep insight into my love life and what it’s like to be known as such a playboy figure and trying to find love”. The semi-sung ‘Inner Thoughts (Vulnerability) Pt 2’, with former Yuma X vocalist LucyLucy, is about his fear of romantic rejection. ChillinIt recalls shedding tears during studio playbacks – “like a full-grown man, sitting in a room full of men, just crying listening to my own song”.
Ultimately, for the rapper, the real duality exists between Blake Turnell and ChillinIt. “Definitely ChillinIt, the cheeky, happy-go-lucky, positive dude – he’s Blake and Chill. But the cheeky drug guy is only ChillinIt.” Either way, he insists he’s “generally got a big heart”.
ChillinIt is looking beyond “COVID season” (which he enunciates archly) with a sold-out 2022 Australian tour and inaugural UK date. He hints at a deluxe edition of ‘Family Ties’ and more international collabs, including with American artists. But ChillinIt’s big goals involve both family and business.
“Money is good, love’s good, my family’s healthy,” he says contentedly. “I’d love to be a father one day. I’d love to maybe settle down, maybe in the next four years… I’m already into property and crypto and things like that. I’ve got a lot of ambitions. But, mainly, my biggest ambition is to continue to be happy and just continue my journey – wherever that may be.”
ChillinIt’s album ‘Family Ties’ is out now