You started off the year performing with your dad in Jamaica. How was that experience performing with him?

As I said before, we've always had a cool relationship. He's brought me on stage plenty of times before and I think that's just more so me a personal journey of me finding dance hall and finding my heritage musically. But as far as my dad and performing with him, it is always fun because I feel like it's way more sporadic with my dad it's like alright, cool. I know he's about to do a show. I know I'm going to be in Jamaica. I got a single out so he's for sure going to bring me on stage, but I just have no clue when at what time because this show might say 10:00 PM and then he doesn't go on until 2:00 AM. I feel like it's a great practice for me, especially in the dance hall world because it's new for me with those crowds and they're very, very different. Dancehall is a whole different type of show than the typical R&B or pop or whatever show. So it's dope. I'm embracing it. I'm excited.

I feel like you had a similar experience when you did the Vybz Kartel show. It was his first time in Miami performing in a long time so being on stage with him must've been a historic moment for you.

It's crazy because I met Vybz one other time prior to that moment and I didn't talk to him at all before I got on that stage like me verbally speaking to him. But for one I could tell the love that he has for my dad just by being on stage and him even having that love and paying it forward and having that respect to bring me out is super love. He does not have to do that. I really appreciate that. But it's crazy because he would say he's one of my dad's sons like his musical sons. I'm his actual flesh and blood who also does music. So I feel like that energy just kind of creates something magical in general on the stage. I really can't even explain it. I was focused on the crowd, but I feel like I felt like a kid in a candy store and I think Kartel looks at it like 'Damn to look at all the years that they've been putting in and to see the offspring has this in his soul too. I feel like it was just really dope.

It seems like all of those artists truly made an impact on you. You earned your first Grammy for Best Reggae Album after appearing on Damien Marley's 'Stony Hill' and were nominated for Best R&B Performance for your work on Chris Brown's "Summer Too Hot." That's a huge accomplishment. How did you feel when you found out you won your first Grammy?

I didn't know. So I was sitting down eating lunch with some friends and my sister called me. She's like, 'Congratulations!' I'm like, congrats on what? I thought I'd seen all the nominations and all this stuff, but I guess they hadn't aired the Caribbean award for that. So she was like, 'You won." And so I was like, 'Oh s**t.' It was kind of a surreal moment. I was like, wow, dope. Shout out to my pops and shout out to Damien Marley for putting me on that song. It was so random. We were just in Miami in the studio, and he was like, 'Yo, go in the booth.' And I end up on the album. So that's a beautiful thing, something I was really blessed with early, honestly.

Joe Soto