Dumile was born in London, England, the son of a Trinidadian mother and a Zimbabwean father. His family moved to Long Island, New York when he was a child; Dumile remains a British citizen and has not gained American citizenship.\n', '

As Zev Love X he formed the group KMD in 1988 with his younger brother DJ Subroc and another MC called Rodan. When Rodan left the group, Zev found another MC, Onyx the Birthstone Kid, to replace Rodan. A&R rep Dante Ross learned of KMD through the hip hop group 3rd Bass, and signed the group to Elektra Records. Dumile and KMD\'s recording debut came on 3rd Bass\'s song "The Gas Face" from The Cactus Album, followed in 1991 with KMD\'s album Mr. Hood, which became a minor hit through its singles "Peachfuzz", "Who Me?" and heavy video play on cable TV\'s Yo! MTV Raps and Rap City.\n', '

In 1993, just before the release of the second KMD album, Black Bastards, Subroc was struck by a car and killed while attempting to cross the Nassau Expressway. The group was subsequently dropped from Elektra Records that same week. Before the release, the album was shelved due to its controversial cover art, which featured a cartoon of a stereotypical pickaninny or sambo character being hanged from the gallows. After the death of his brother, Dumile retreated from the hip hop scene from 1994 to 1997, living "damn near homeless, walking the streets of Manhattan, sleeping on benches". In the late 1990s, he left New York City and settled in Atlanta. According to interviews with Dumile, he was also "recovering from his wounds" and swearing revenge "against the industry that so badly deformed him". Black Bastards had become bootlegged at the time, leading to Doom\'s rise in the underground hip hop scene.\n', '

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