AP Dhillon came to Canada with 2 suitcases and a dream. Now he's performing at the Junos

Punjabi-Canadian singer and rapper AP Dhillonis at his firstJuno Awards, eight years afterleavingIndia to pursue a career in music.

"Imoved here with two suitcases and one dream, and that was just to do something that caninspire people back home," Dhillon told CBC News on the red carpet. "Immigrants that come into this country with the same hope that I had when Imoved here."

"So I'm really excited to perform here and I'm happy that finallythis brown skin is getting recognized," he said.

Dhillonmade his mark in the Canadian music scene with his 2019 trackFake,showcasing a blend of pop, R&B, hip-hop with Punjabi musical influences that, four years later, has translated into over 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

"We're not afraid [of] experimenting with our music, and that's what makes itunique. That's the approach that we've been taking since day one," he said.

Dhillon is part of a fledgling movement of Canadian-Punjabi artists in hip-hop and rap, having worked with singers Gurinder Gill, rappersShinda Kahlon and Sidhu Moose Wala, who died last year.

He also spoke about the importance of South Asian representation in Canadian music.

"This is the first step towards the marathon that we are going to run together," he said.

Dhillon, who frequently collaborates with other Punjabi-Canadian artists, said it was his goal "to help our people, to bring them to this platform. So that's why we're working toward it, we're collaborating with our people, collaborating with our people on this side of the world too."

Though Dhillon isn't nominated for any awards at this year's Junos, he will perform during Monday evening's show and he's looking forward to all the performances.

"This will be my first-ever concert I'm going to sit and watch. All other ones are my own or I just perform there, so I'm excited," he said.