Six days before the 2026 Grammy Awards, Destin Conrad was just trying to relax.
“I got all these parties and events and things I gotta sing at,” Conrad told the Tampa Bay Times by phone. The singer-songwriter, about to catch a flight, didn’t have much time to chat. “It’s a really, really big week.”
This comes after a really, really big year. In April, Conrad released his debut album, “LOVE ON DIGITAL,” collaborating with Kehlani and Lil Nas X. A jazz record, “wHIMSY,” followed in August.
Now the Tampa native is trying to preserve his optimism ahead of his first award show. “LOVE ON DIGITAL” is up for a “Best Progressive R&B Album” Grammy.
“Win, lose or draw, at least my mom and my sister will be there,” he said. “We get to party and be cute.”
Conrad was born 25 and a half years ago at Tampa General Hospital. Carlene Jamieson, his mom, said he had “this zest to perform” ever since.
“He was singing songs before he could even speak,” she said. Her eldest child, Janique Hobbs, put on Aaliyah whenever Conrad cried.
“‘Rock the Boat’ was the song to pacify it,” Jamieson said. “He got so quiet, and when he heard Aaliyah singing, he was humming it.”
Conrad attended St. Peter Claver Catholic School in Tampa and Shore Elementary Magnet School of the Arts in Ybor City. His mother put him in classes for singing, dancing and piano. Conrad especially loved the music that filled his home.
“My sister is, like a big Aaliyah girl, Usher, Alicia Keys, all of the GOAT R&B legends,” Conrad said. “My mom was more into like, Luther Vandross and Beres Hammond and a lot of Jamaican artists.”
Jamieson remembers when a video of Conrad covering Alicia Keys went viral.
“He was six at the time, so eventually he was performing in churches, on certain occasions, and stuff like that,” Jamieson said. “That’s when I decided I’m gonna move him, because he seems inclined to do something.”
When Conrad was about 10, Jamieson sold her possessions and relocated the family to California to support his creative growth. In his early teens, he became a star on the short-form video app Vine.
The family returned to Tampa a few years later, where he attended LennardHigh School in Ruskin.
“Florida doesn’t get the credit that it deserves,” Conrad said. “It played into my music, but it also just kind of played into who I am as a person.”
Conrad lives in New York now but returns to Tampa frequently to see his family. A trip home isn’t complete without a taste of his mom’s Jamaican food (Jamieson owns Island Chew at Brandon Food Truck Park.)
“There’s so much undiscovered talent,” he said, citing Tampa R&B singer Gabriel Jacoby as an example of someone to watch. “I want to be just thought of and brought up in conversation when it comes to the city.”
A few weeks ago, Conrad sang on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series with his nine-piece band. He took inspiration from performances byMaxwell, Esperanza Spalding and “Doechii, of course.”
“Me and Doechii are really cool,” he told the Times. “We haven’t met, actually, but we do text, and we talked about working together, which I really want to do.”
On the shelves at NPR, crowded with memorabilia from previous performers, Conrad left behind some merch: a “wHIMSY” ashtray.
“Hopefully soon I can bring the jazz show to Tampa,” he said.
