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Dancehall firebrand Khago has lived a life worthy of a movie script, one filled with heartbreak, rejection, and gritty resilience.

Long before the spotlight found him, he battled homelessness, slept on strangers' floors, and carried the weight of abandonment. But through it all, the man, whose given name is Ricardo Gayle, clung to a belief that he was destined for something greater.

"Di whole a fi mi growing up just rough, and being a man worse. A since mi find mi [latest] song [ 2 Times] mi start feel likkle joy. Yuh get riches and share it wid family and friend and dem treat yuh like yuh a nuh nutten. But now that mi start understand di nature of man, mi just zero back mi mental and God just start send happiness come to me. But is like mi did fraid fi be happy," he said.

His difficult upbringing due to what he calls an absence of family support stalled his dreams and delayed his success. Yet, Khago eventually rose to fame with his 2006 hit Naah Sell Out Mi Friend Dem.

"Mi see God work magic fi mi aready and a floor mi did a sleep pon and nuh have no vehicle, mi affi a boom ride go a town," he shared.

Recalling the excitement of his breakthrough, Khago said, "When mi buss wid Naah Sell Out Mi Friend Dem, a floor mi a sleep pon enuh ... and di first time mi record [that song] mi memba mi guh a Fairview to mi one brethren and seh 'Mi buss now enuh.' And all when di riddim start play and fi mi song naah play, mi still a seh 'Mi buss man, it just affi play one time.'"

In a surprising twist, Khago's big break came when someone played his song in Portmore, St Catherine.

"And one youth call mi and seh 'Yow, yuh buss - yuh nuh hear wah happen a Portmore? Yuh song a shell dung di place,'" he recalled.

Adding to his excitement, he revealed that Wyclef Jean also chose to play the track during a National Stadium show.

Describing that unforgettable moment, Khago said, "Mi did get just a regular ticket fi come inna stadium suh mi come as close up to di iron dem weh yuh can guh ova weh di artiste dem deh and mi a tell di security seh 'Yow, a me name Khago enuh man' and him naah let me in. Suh mi siddung up pon di bar because mi seh as him tun him back mi a jump over ... and den mi guh hear Wyclef intro one song and mi see di whole stadium lift up. A faint mi faint enuh and drop ova di star side enuh."

He continued, "Mi get up and start seh to di security, 'A my chune dat' and him carry mi guh roun weh Beenie Man dem deh and Beenie Man call mi out," expressing deep gratitude to Beenie Man, the 'dancehall king', for giving him that invaluable exposure.

Drawing strength from his streetwise lessons and that defining experience, Khago said it shaped him into the man he is today. He has since built a life centred on legacy, grounded in a new mindset and attitude. His greatest wish from his youth was simple: happiness, and the presence of his father.

"Mi wish mi did have a father because when yuh grow up without a father, yuh lost. It worse if he's around and yuh naah get fi utilise him, but a dead my own dead and sometimes mi just hide and bruk dung and bawl," he said.

"Fadda very important because if my daddy did deh yah now, mi wudda like fi buy mi daddy a drop-top Benz, because mi did love mi fadda. There's supm inna mi heart when mi think bout not having him around and sometimes mi just drive guh St Ann (his father's parish) and just cry," Khago shared.

Known for his vivid expressions and memorable antics, Khago revealed his initial interest in music was less about artistry and more about impressing girls.

"Mi did want fi be a gyalis like mi friend who was the 'real musician' during dem teenage years," he said. But it was the sounds of dancehall icons like Mr Vegas and Kiprich that truly inspired him to pursue music seriously. This passion soon eclipsed his early love for skilled trades like tiling and carpentry.