Violent Childhood Andre Young grew up in a small, depressed neighborhood where drug abuse and

gang violence was common. He had a young mom, Verna, who had Andre at age 16 and was married a
brief while to an abusive drug dealer. Verna took Andre and moved away to raise him right. She told him
“fast money is not good money,” referring to drug dealers. He was too distracted by music to become
involved in violence. Andre was born with a love for it and knew how to work a turntable at the age of
four. His grandmother would recite poems to him and he quickly committed the words to memory.