Fort Good Hope rapper Crook the Kid takes place on Bluesfest's big stage

The moment Dylan Jones stepped on stage in Ottawa, he closed his eyes to block out the cheering, the lights and the smoke machines.

The rapper, originally from Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., performs under the name Crook the Kid. He was tapped to open for rapper Logic, the headliner at this year's RBC Ottawa Bluesfest.

Jones said, in that moment on stage it was "game time."

"I just waited for the beat to drop and tried to become the purpose of the song," he said. "Become the music, I suppose."

The rapper's performance on Wednesday night was a huge break. Bluesfest attracts about 300,000 people each year to see performances by musical giants that range from Foo Fighters to Kanye West.

Since that show, Jones says he's received some 400 Facebook notifications and his phone has been ringing nonstop.

"Everything has been absolutely pouring in, to the point where I haven't been checking it for the last while," he said. "It's too much."

Journey to the top

Jones says his musical career was born from a sense of not really having a place to fit not feeling a purpose in life and not knowing how to channel pain and anxiety. Writing was a way to cope with all of these feelings, so he considers it amazing that his message resonates with other people.

"I mean, to go from that to creating so much happiness," he said. "It started in one of the darkest places in my life and now I'm lucky to have been given this opportunity."

But it took a lot of work to get there, and when he found out he'd be opening for one of the most popular rappers right now, he just channeled that focus.

If it never happens again, [my] little kids will feel what it's like to be up there.- Dylan Jones, a.k.a. Crook the Kid

Jones learned he would be opening for Logic a couple months ago, and says he spent his time since then rehearsing and psyching himself up for the job.

"I told myself, 'I come from nowhere, I'm coming with nothing except myself, so I'll just do my best," he said.

"I cut all backup [singers] out of my music, everything, so when I got onstage I did it or it was completely lost."

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And it turns out, he did it. The performance garnered a glowing write-up in the next day's Ottawa Citizen newspaper, and if that isn't indication enough, the "hoardes of teenage girls" looking for autographs at the show also sent Jones a message.

Now, he's making sure to share these moments with the people closest to him. Jones brought his wife and daughters on stage at the end of his set so he could play a song for them.

"I figured if it never happens again, these [my] kids will feel what it's like to be up there," he said.