Born Jeffrey Johnson, Jr., Dash grew up in Atlanta’s Capitol Homes projects under the watchful eye of his mother and great-grandmother. The baby of the family (he has an older brother, two half-sisters and two step-brothers), Dash was an inquisitive and bright child who learned about Hip-Hop from his older brother Erik.

"My brother used to make beats in the basement,” says Dash. “When he’d leave the house, I’d steal the beats off of his computer and record them on a karaoke machine.”

Dash began writing raps at 12 years old. By high school, he’d taken on the name “ATL” as part of a four-man rap group called the Blackout Boys. In 2006, the group (which included Dash’s brother) released a mixtape, Recognition, which generated significant buzz around Mill Creek High School. The following year, the already popular Dash – a basketball-playing heartthrob – released a solo mixtape entitled My Turn, further boosting his high school profile. However, the aspiring emcee didn’t begin to take his music career seriously until he became a father at the age of 16.