I have been seeing a lot of comments wherein people suggest hitting the gym and being lean and so many terms like leanmaxx or lean is law in most of the posts which makes me think it is way more important than I think

How important is it? I'm skinny fat with a bit of muscle and I do fill tight tshirts but there is visible fat when I take off my shirt and I suppose my face would be a bit puffy in this case.

Should I really focus on being lean before putting on any muscle. I have an East Asia trip coming in 2.5 months where I will shoot more of my shots so maybe something that I can keep in mind