He was born Hossam Boutros Messiha in 1970 in Cairo, Egypt, to a family of Coptic Christians;[1] his father was a diplomat.[2][3] He lived in Bogotá, Colombia from the age of 3 to 7.[1] At the age of 8, he arrived with his family in France, as he reportedly "did not speak a word of French". He then grew up in Mulhouse.[2][3]