Where does Kirklandd fit in the hip hop movement...

Your new single ‘knowbody’ talks about the challenges of social media and mental health – what drove you to write the song?

‘knowbody’ is a reflection of the most difficult week I faced this year. At the time, I was dealing with the loss of a friend, and was approaching our first festival performance at Groovin the Moo. I was in this difficult headspace of feeling really down, but trying to make myself grateful and excited for the opportunity I’d been given at the same time, so I started posting on IG with the hyped up energy I wanted to be feeling. What scared me was that this actually worked; what I was seeing of myself online slowly became reflective of how I actually felt. I realized that, at least in that moment, my use of social media was short cutting my growth, and gave me a fleeting solution to a much deeper pain. It was an eye opening experience I wanted to channel into writing and explore further.

As an artist who would use social media to create a community around fans, how do you strike a balance between using it as a tool and not letting it encroach onto your personal life / wellbeing?

I think your use of social media needs to derive purely from why you’re doing what you’re doing as an artist. I’m here to inspire and unify people through my music, and encourage others to treat self-care as a crucial part of our everyday growth. I use social media as a way to affirm this energy, and hold myself accountable that I am putting the work into myself and earning the energy I convey – fans are crazy smart and can tell a mile away when someone’s being authentic and when they’re not. So for me to be authentic, I have to be doing everything I say I’m here to do. I let social media hold me accountable to the point that it’s healthy, and I’m happy to let it make me a better person, without being dependent on it to do so.

Coming up in the hip hop scene, has it ever worried you to talk about topics such as mental health where traditionally the genre has been quite toxic in how it perceives people (men in particular) with an illness (mental or otherwise) as ‘weak’ and holding less ‘power’?

Never. I could care less if anyone thinks I’m weak for sharing all sides of myself. Hip hop to me has always been a beautifully intricate artform of storytelling, and the more authentic the storyteller, the better the story. Music has become a way for me to vocalise my struggles and my triumphs; it’s kind of a coping mechanism for me, and I believe that makes my music more real. At the end of it all, as long as you’re doing what’s real to you, that’s what matters. I can’t pose with guns and get lit in the hood and act like it’s who I am – I’m a kid who’s trying understand all of these beautiful challenges the universe throws my way, and share my experiences with others through music. It’s all about doing what’s authentic to you and helping people in the process.

This track has seen you move into a slightly different sonic direction – was this a conscious effort to do so, or did it happen organically during the process?

Cam and I had been talking about making a banger that explored themes of anxiety and self-care for some time, and when he sent me this loop, we knew this was the song. I took careful time to make sure this was reflected lyrically, because with tracks of this nature it’s so damn easy to ‘flex’ and do fuck all else. If you go looking for it, there’s a heap of meaning to take away from knowbody, and that’s going to be fully realised when we release the knowbody film.

Where else do you draw from or find inspiration to write and create?

I draw the most inspiration from being on the road. There’s a really natural creative flow when you’re out on tour, and you’re in this healthy place of wanting to channel the energy you share with people into writing. I’ve written my most honest and reflective verses on a plane or in the back of a bus, or even backstage before we go on to perform. The creative rhythm comes really naturally. 

How do you hope to see hip hop innovate in the coming years? Where do you see yourself fitting into that movement?

Hip hop is currently the most consumed and innovative genre in the world, and it shows. We’re only going to go further and create trends that other genres jump on almost immediately. What does concern me is what makes a song successful in this era; through its viral direction and ability to draw mass consumption. We’re moving away from the era of albums and true artistry and that terrifies me. Given that, what I want to bring to the table is an unprecedented level of musicality and artistry that makes hip hop more diverse and authentic, in the way it used to be in the era of ATCQ and early Black Eyed Peas joints. Cam, Kay and my drummer Josh and I are working every day to achieve this – we just recorded a live gospel choir for my first album – and I know the impact I’m going to have will draw much more from longevity and artistry than a quick come up. I’m going to completely evolve what Australia’s used to calling ‘hip hop’ in a musical sense. And that starts in 2020.

Kirklandd’s latest single ‘knowbody’ is available digitally here. 

His knowbody tour kicks off this week, with tickets available from kirklanddmusic.com