(AllHipHop Features) D.R.A.M. will spend much of this Sunday patiently waiting to find out if he’ll be adding “Grammy winner” to his career accomplishments. The German-born, Virginia-raised vocalist’s Top 5 smash hit “Broccoli” is up for Best Rap/Sung Performance at this year’s ceremony.

That particular Grammy category is highly competitive with records by Beyoncé, Kanye West, and Drake also nominated for the award. A win would be great, but D.R.A.M. is already riding high over the fact he has earned his first nod from The Recording Academy.

AllHipHop.com spoke with the singer-songwriter to get his initial reaction to finding out he was officially a Grammy nominee. The discussion also consists of D.R.A.M. reflecting on penning his first song as well as the first time he met face-to-face with his “WiFi” collaborator Erykah Badu.

With “Broccoli” going double platinum, the Big Baby D.R.A.M. album earning critical praise, and a well received international tour continuing until June, Idnit the dog’s best friend is one of the brightest new voices in Hip Hop and R&B. So it’s the perfect time to see some of the history behind how D.R.A.M. became an award-nominated performer.

[ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: D.R.A.M. On Pushing Positive Vibes & Unity Through His Art]

First Time You Wrote A Song

Me and my boy TJ – he goes by the name of Perfekk now – were like 16 years old. There was this song called “Introduction” or something like that. We recorded it with this guy named Mr. Kelsey. He put it on a little CD. We got in the car and listened to it. The guy who actually recorded it, ejected the CD, took an ink pen and scribbled all over it, broke it, and threw it out the window. He said, “I’d never record this!” [laughs] That’s a true story.

First Time Performing On Your Own Tour

Nashville was crazy because it was a real question on what was the crowd going to be like. We had never hit Nashville. The fact that we sold the show out was already a blessing. Then we got so curious to see the crowd. It was so many different people. I just took it all in like, “They’re here to see me?” It was really a one-of-a-kind feeling.

First Time Meeting Erykah Badu

That sh-t was lit. This was down at SXSW [Festival]. It was at one of the sponsored shows where she headlined as a DJ. I was on the bill as well. We had been conversing, but that was the first time we met in person. I went into her dressing room. It was so dope. A few days later, we ended up linking up and working in the studio. That was even more lit. It was pretty monumental.

First Time Finding Out You Were Nominated For A Grammy Award

Oh my God. I was in Brooklyn. I was cooling with my homegirl. It was mad early in the morning. I don’t even think I went to sleep the night before. Then I put out a random ass tweet like “Big Baby” or something stupid. Somebody responded back immediately like, “I hope the Grammys don’t snub you today.”

I had no idea anything was going on with the Grammy announcements. So I was like, “What the f-ck is this n-gga even talking about?” Like fifteen minutes later, I get a call from my manager Tunde. He’s like, “It’s f-cking lit! We’re Grammy f-cking nominated! I’m about to send you this screenshot.” All of a sudden, I just started jumping on the bed. Oh my god. I can’t… You know what I’m saying? That sh-t was crazy.

First Time Hearing A Parliament-Funkadelic Song

Okay. I’m going to give you the first time that made me fall into the trance of loving and studying Parliament-Funkadelic. I think I was like 19 years old. I was riding around, getting high. I finally get back to the crib. I go upstairs in my room. My room had a computer, so I would make beats and songs. But I would also listen to music.

I had just recently downloaded the entire discography of Parliament. Then I went to Motor Booty Affair, track 3 – “(You’re a Fish and I’m a) Water Sign.” It was so bass heavy and trancey. It was a song about a request to have sex with a girl. It’s supposed to be like a bar underwater. It’s all these innuendoes about water, but it sounded so glorious.

The way my rinky-d### speakers were set up the subwoofer was overpowering the speakers. I swear I had the record on repeat for two hours. I was just sitting there vibing. I was crying to that sh-t, and it’s not even a song about emotions. It’s got to be in the top 5 greatest records I’ve ever heard in my life.