During the mid- to late 2000s, Omar Cruz emerged as one of the most promising Latino rappers in Los Angeles, where his popularity on the underground mixtape circuit led to a major-label recording contract. Born in Los Angeles the son of a Columbian father and a Mexican mother, Cruz grew up in South Central L.A. near Crenshaw in a predominantly African-American neighborhood (though he attended school across town in safer Culver City). Initially inspired by Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, and above all N.W.A, he subsequently found Latino rappers Cypress Hill and Big Punisher influential as well as Los Angeles rappers Dr.