Although praised but deemed unsuitable for the competition, Turner was nevertheless voted "Most Popular of the Unforgettables"[3] and performed at the 2003 Idol Grand Final at the Sydney Opera House.

In 2001, after being informed by a friend that what he was doing was an artform known as "beatboxing", Turner was inspired to develop his skills further, studying the genre and its artists, practising constantly and competing in battles.

[12] After the track's release, the group received a great deal of feedback from young people who identified with the issues mentioned in the song,[13] such as drugs, depression, suicide, and living on the streets.

Following his signing to Holden's label Dream Dealers in early 2004, Turner spent the year recording and promoting his debut album and appearing at events such as the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, Telethon, and the Youth Alive Festival.

[15] The self-titled Joel Turner and the Modern Day Poets album was released on 1 November 2004 and was hailed by Beat magazine as "the most accomplished and shockingly brilliant debut of 2004".

[citation needed] During the middle stages of 2005, Turner and his crew took part in the Coke Live '05 Sessions – a series of gigs for Under 18's held across Australia in de-licensed venues.

[19][20] On returning to Australia, Turner was a special guest artist at the 2005 Schools Musical Spectacular in Bendigo and performed with 2003 Idol winner Guy Sebastian at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.

[22] For the remainder of 2005 and into 2006, Turner continued to perform gigs with both the Modern Day Poets and Attention Deficit Disaudio partner Tom Thumb, notably appearing on stage at a show by beatboxing legend Rahzel in Brisbane.

Turner also spent time performing at various schools throughout Australia, as well as events such as the Pacific Brands Fashion Show, Foxtel's 10th Birthday celebrations, the Sydney and Melbourne Auto Salon exhibitions, and the 2006 Gold Coast Big Day Out.

[citation needed] In January 2006, Turner undertook a televised performance with his band and special guest Axle Whitehead at the Australia Day Live Concert in Canberra.

[citation needed] Subsequent gigs included the Australian Hip Hop United benefit concert, Parkfest, the Bring It On Youth Festival, and Force '06.

[23] Turner spent the latter half of 2006 working on a new album and also formed a production company called Two Kingz Produktionz with up-and-coming Brisbane MC Preech.

Turner also made a return to the small screen, performing on the "Friday Night Live" edition of reality TV show Big Brother.

On 29 July 2007, Turner suffered a badly broken jaw after being struck in the face with a fence paling while attempting to break up a fight at a party in suburban Brisbane.

Along with an uncensored version of "City of Dreams", the documentary included footage of Turner revisiting his old neighbourhood of Acacia Ridge and previewing forthcoming tunes on acoustic guitar.

It included collaborations with members of De La Soul and the Modern Day Poets, as well as UK rapper Mystro and Australian artist Preech.

He headlined events such as the Urban Youth Arts Warehouse Fest, Xposed, and the Buzz Monkey National Breakdancing Championships, then spent early December performing several shows a day at the ASIMO exhibition in his hometown of Brisbane.

[29] Aside from occasional television appearances, Turner spent most of 2008 away from the public eye, his only prominent performances taking place during De La Soul's set at the Gold Coast's Summafieldayze Festival in January and Melbourne's "Make a Change Concert" in April.

[30] During a November feature story on Nine Network news program A Current Affair, Turner spoke out about the impact of the assault and was reportedly working on a new album.

[31] His appearances in 2009 included a performance at Brisbane's Autumn Urban Fiesta and a support slot for De La Soul's 20th Anniversary Australian tour.

[32] The second half of 2009 saw Turner headlining annual indigenous youth festival Stylin' Up before taking part in Easterfest Spotlight's "A Jazzmagical Christmas" spectacular.

King, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, as well as hip-hop artists such as Tupac Shakur, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Cypress Hill.