XanMan was born Haile Salaam on August 16, 2000 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Raised in Landover, a suburb of Washington D.C., he was exposed to music at an early age. Salaam began to take an interest in the drums at age 5, and was influenced by his uncle, who was a drummer for Go-Go Music legend Chuck Brown. He began recording music while in elementary school, and became proficient with the music software program Pro Tools when he was 11 years old.

XanMan released his first mixtape “Finesse Lord” in 2013. He went on to release a number of mixtapes in the following years, including No Plug and Broken. As of 2020, XanMan has released 34 mixtapes and a long list of singles. Xanman has collaborated with a number of different artists including Lil Yachty and fellow DC-Area rapper Lil Dude. Their single Many Men was ranked 7th on the Washington Post’s list of the best DMV rap songs and albums of 2018. Citing his influences, Salaam named Lil Wayne as one of the most important people in sparking his interest in making rap music.

Salaam was arrested on November 8, 2018 and charged with assault. He was sentenced to six months in jail. While incarcerated, a #FreeXan movement gained momentum on Twitter. Upon his release, XanMan dropped a song entitled First Day Out featuring his cousin and collaborator YungManny.