360 talks to Danielle Muir about the ups and downs that have led to his latest album, Falling & Flying. The album has scooped the pool in the nominations for the upcoming ARIA Awards.

“If I told myself when I was 14 or 15 that I was going to be where I’m at now, I would have probably fainted or something. It’s crazy.”

So says Matt Colwell, the Australian hip hop sensation better known to his many fans as 360 (or just plain “Sixty”, sometimes even “Uncle 6”). Luckily for the music industry, now that the Melbourne rapper is all of 26 years old he can cope with releasing a platinum album, selling out a tour and attracting millions of views on YouTube without losing consciousness.

360 burst onto the scene alongside Pez with “The Festival Song” in 2009, a ready-made anthem for days full of sun and music. The two friends kick-started their rap careers simultaneously. “Me and Pez both… started trying to do it together,” says 360. “He’s one of my closest friends. [“The Festival Song”] was our first break into the music industry but then that’s when it all got serious, when I was about 20, and then we signed to EMI when I was about 22.”

His debut solo album, 2008’s What You See Is What You Get, had represented his love for the old-school. “With the production side of What You See Is What You Get, it’s very much a traditional hip hop-sounding album,” he says. But fast forward to 2011 and his second album Falling & Flying is a different beast. Vaulting the barriers between hip hop and other genres, he chose to merge the spoken word with styles like dubstep and electronica. “I listen to bands like Miike Snow and even The Presets and because I was such a fan of it, it would sound so good to rap over these songs, but no one really does it. Why not?” he asks.

The result is an album brimming with both festival and club anthems, retaining an emotional punch through his lyrics but with beats intricate enough to send fans into a frenzy. Each track introduces an unexpected style and finds Sixty delivering his lyrics with purpose. It’s an unpredictable album.

The final track, “Hope You Don’t Mind”, featuring N’fa from 1200 Techniques, is his personal favourite. It’s a musical snapshot of him at his lowest ebb. “When I wrote that, I was in a pretty dark headspace, you know what I mean? You sort of have to take yourself into that character again, like in that frame of mind that I was in when I was writing it.” He had to recreate the pain that he’d felt in order to convey it, to let listeners immerse themselves in that same emotion. “It’s like when actors do it and they have to put on a role and get in the zone. I had to get in that same kind of real dark headspace and actually feel it.”

The rawness and honesty with which Sixty delivers the stories of his hardship aren’t just about the audio experience, they’re an exercise in self-development. His battles with mental illness, drug abuse and death are explored through the lyrics, with the result that creating Falling & Flying was akin to going through therapy for him. “I definitely suffer from anxiety pretty badly and to help me through it – writing helps get me through it. It’s like an escape.”

This escape not only has an affect on 360, but his fans. “It’s crazy that a lot of people have hit me up and said I’ve saved their life from them committing suicide and stuff like that, just because of the stuff that I say. To hear something like that is insane.”

On the back of his mammoth, sold-out The Flying tour (“the smallest show was about 700-capacity room”), 360 cemented his position in the big leagues of Australian hip hop. “Every single show was sold out and it was just… mayhem. It was just really, really insane and cool when you’re doing a chorus and don’t have to sing it. You just hold the microphone out and the crowd sings it.”

With the ARIA awards fast approaching, 360 is a definite contender for a coveted silver triangle, an idea which isn’t lost on him. “To win an ARIA would be amazing. I mean, it’s just great to get the recognition from the music industry. If I won an ARIA I’d be over the moon.”

It’s a safe bet to say the moon had better watch out. Whether it’s a ballad with Adele or the latest dubstep drop, it’s impossible to predict what Sixty will throw at us next. But that’s exactly why, in an industry associated with mass production, his honesty is a breath of fresh air that we didn’t know we needed until it was there for the taking.