Basket mouth was born in Lagos State but hails from Abia State, Nigeria. He completed his primary and secondary school in Apapa, Lagos and moved on to the University of Benin, Edo State to study for a degree in Sociology and Anthropology. He discovered his skill in drumming in 1991 followed by taking up rapping in 1994. He then formed a group called “Da Psychophats” which had 7 members and they started going for shows and rapping in 1995, however they broke up before releasing any material. He went on to form another rap group known as “Da Oddz” with his brother Godwin and Muyiwa Ola-phillips: they performed a couple of shows but didn’t break through as their brand of rap was not accepted in Nigeria.