Illy

Illy Having started out in Melbourne hip hoppers Crooked Eye, rapper Illy released his well-received solo album “Long Story Short” back in 2007. Having garnered a positive response and built a fanbase of his own, Illy returned to the studio and set to work on its follow-up “The Chase”. However, little did he know that both the album, and his Owl Eyes duet “It Can Wait” would cause such tidal waves for his popularity. With the duet ranking at number 29 in Triple’s J Hot 100 of 2010, “The Chase” found itself catapulted to number 25 in the album charts. While Illy is keen to note that the chart success “definitely wasn’t the goal,” he feels “it was just a natural bi-product of the sound of the album.”

Illy Clearly chuffed with the developments on popularity front, a surprisingly modest Illy concedes “I definitely want people liking my music. I don’t see anything wrong with getting a bigger audience. My whole reaction has just been that I am stoked with it all.”
With an ever growing fanbase, Illy has spent 2011 hitting the festival circuit hard and his charismatic live performances have led not only to increased record sales, but a series of sell-out shows. While he points out that the sole difference between the festivals and his own shows is “the size of the crowd,” he willingly volunteers, “I like doing the shows on this tour, where it is sold out and I am headlining, as everyone is there for me. Most of them will have the album, most of them will know the words. It is a smaller setting making it a bit more intimate. They are both awesome, but I would go for a big headline show any day of the week.”

By Jeremy Williams