Rapper Armani White came up hit song ‘Billie Eilish’ on the toilet

Rapper Armani White had a hit with his song, “Billie Eilish” — before the track had even been released. On his first trip to Australia, he revealed that he came up with the career-changing track on the toilet.

US rapper Armani White is performing in Australia for the first time. Picture: Richard Dobson/The Daily Telegraph.

What does it take to make a hip hop hit? TikTok, “dreams, hustle, rich spirit and grind”.

Rapper Armani White had a hit with his song, “Billie Eilish” — before the track had even been released. It happened with the help of an indelible 16-second viral clip on social media.

The US artist touched down in Sydney this week to perform at the TikTok awards on Wednesday night, alongside Peach PRC.

He’ll spend some time in the Harbour City before flying to Melbourne to play his headlining BWS Cool Room Series gig on December 7. Meanwhile, Lime Cordiale will headline the summer gig in a giant freezer in Sydney.

American rapper Armani White pictured at Universal Music Australia. Picture: Richard Dobson.

White knew his song Billie Eilish was special from the moment it popped into his head.

Which happened to be while he was on the toilet.

“I wrote some fire sh** on the toilet this morning,” White told Confidential.

“We had seen her in 2019 in these big shirts. People were asking if it was for body positivity. I f**k with Billie’s style. I said that’s weird, I’m from Philly (Philadelphia), where if you see someone with a big T-shirt on, they’ve probably got a glock on them. I thought of it on the toilet. We were joking around with that idea. I thought ‘I’ll write that down’. Two years later, that was the record that changed everything.”

Billie Eilish performs onstage during the "Happier Than Ever" Tour in 2022. Photo: Phil Walter/Getty Images.

Pictured in Sydney ahead of the 2023 BWS Cool Room Series and TikTok Awards is American rapper Armani White. Picture: Richard Dobson,

His lyrics popped up at first, in a 16-second clip on Instagram and TikTok in February 2022. White had used the beat from rapper N.O.R.E.’s 2002 hit Nothin, tweaked it, added some bells and whistles and topped it off with hard-hitting, catchy lyrics.

“B—-, I’m stylish/Glock tucked, big T-shirt, Billie Eilish!” the line goes, referring to the pop singer’s signature style.

The clip garnered millions of views on social media and bolstered White’s monthly listeners on Spotify from a couple thousand to over a million, and his overall streams to billions. White had a hit on his hands before the song was even officially released.

Seven months later, the song would land White a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a performance at the BET Awards and a record deal with Def Jam Recordings.

“I played the song for my friends and everybody said, yeah, it’s cool. I said no, it’s fire. It’s perfect. You need that passion and tenacity in what you’re doing. This is actually great, you just didn’t hear it yet.

On his first night in Sydney, the rapper said he stayed up until 3am at an arcade in Haymarket.

“Everything closes so early out here. This is the big city right? I thought Sydney was going to be it. I ain’t seen no parties,” he said. “Our party was getting an HSP.”

In high school, White added that he first learned what a Bilby was.

“I said one day I’m going to see one of those things for real when I go to Australia. I did yesterday.”