iann dior dishes on kicking addiction, the LA move, Travis Barker relationship and more with Apple Music

Rap artist iann dior has plenty to talk about these days. Whether it’s kicking addiction and dealing with getting kicked out of his house to making it big in Los Angeles and working with the legendary Travis Barker, the hip-hop star has plenty of stories to tell and dishes on them in an epic Apple Music interview.

The 22-year-old chops it up with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe in celebration of his new album on to better things. Check out some of the key topics id focuses on below.

iann dior tells Apple Music About His Entry Into Music...

I wasn't very much grown up around instruments. My dad bought me a guitar for Christmas, but that didn't last long. It was really after high school, I was just cliche as hell, but… Made a project about the girl. That got me to LA. And then ever since then, I don't know, whenever I do my sessions, I like to switch it up. Sometimes I record laying on the floor.

iann dior tells Apple Music About His Personal New Album, Kicking Addiction, and Feeling Like an Old Soul...

…this album is very personal to me. It took me two years to finish it. And because I was dealing with being with someone that wasn't the best for me, and a lot of a drug addiction that I had to get rid of. When I moved to LA I was 19, I had a little bit of money, I was doing whatever I wanted. And I think it was COVID time where everything just kind of hit me weird and I had to cut everybody off. I cut everybody off for like six months and I got myself right. This time around, I'm not scared to get personal because this album is personal to me. Every single track. You know how people take pictures for memories? I make music. Those are my timestamps. I listen to my music... it actually heals me now because I'm not in that same place anymore.

I feel like I'm 25. I'm 22 years old, but I feel like I'm old in the soul. Which is a good thing for me because I get to skip all the bullshit now. I had my fun, I went out, went to the clubs, did all this, but it just got old so fast. And it just started to feel like my hometown again. You see the same people, same this. It took me back in a full circle. And I appreciate the times where I was going through stuff to make this album because now when I listen to it, I could tell that I'm in a better place.

iann dior tells Apple Music About Getting Kicked Out Of His House Before Moving to LA...

I got kicked out of the house. And this happened like six months before I moved to LA. My dad wanted me to go to the Navy, I didn't want to do that. I tatted my hands. You can't enlist to the Navy if you have visible hand tattoos at 18. So I found my way around it, but then I got kicked out of the house. I was living on my friend's futon, and six months later I got hit up to come out here and work with some producers. Two weeks later I'm signing a deal. But the weirdest thing about it is when I signed my deal, I looked around and everybody was happy. But then I was like, where's my family and my friends? It didn't sit with me right. So I guess ever since I had that money, it didn't really change me as a person, I just... now I'm able to buy clothes.

iann dior tells Apple Music About Working With Travis Barker on “obvious"…

Travis is one of the nicest people I've ever met. And working with him in the studio, people would think that he's just a drummer, but he's all over the place. He's all over the track and he's adding synths, he's adding the high hats. He's a producer. And I just want people to know that, because anytime I work with him, it just feels special. Because like we're already like family, and the best thing about making music is making it with your friends.

For me, I would take whatever I was taking and I'd go to the studio. And for this song, I just realized... In the beginning, I'm talking to god and I'm trying to like make sure that he's listening to me. "Now, can you hear me? When I call your name it's kind of scary. It's like I'm calling the dead.” And then when it switches up… Whenever it switches up, like in the hook... Because me and this girl were going through some stuff and she didn't like how I was on all this stuff. So I said, "I don't want to bring it up, but I feel like it's obvious. It's hard to be around someone that never learned to love themself." Because at the time, I hated myself. I hated who I was.

iann dior Tells Apple Music About The Album Title…

I think that I'm always make it clear that I've always been an honest person. I'm not scared to tell you what I'm going through. That's why this album is called On To Better Things, because now I'm sober. And all those things that I was doing, it's kind of me telling you that this isn't the right path to go.

iann dior Tells Apple Music About Taking Care of Family…

I think the biggest thing for me that kind of woke me up was my parents getting divorced. And my sister has a baby, my mom's on her own now. So it really made me straighten up. I have people to take care of. Before I was only thinking about myself. But you know what? I'd rather it be my responsibility than them be on their own.

iann dior Tells Apple Music About Embracing New Hobbies…

I've been getting into some weird hobbies, like archery. It's so sick. The feeling you get when you hit that target, it feels good. And I've been doing that. I've gotten back into skating. I love bowling. No, my boy Mod Sun has a half pipe in his backyard, so I usually just go over there and just vibe with them. But yeah, I've been doing that. And what else? Oh, I got into golfing. Yeah. I think it's a nice sport.