dappy was born in camden town, london. it is said that he grew up in a small council flat with his parents and older brother. he actually lived in a large townhouse because his father was a member of 1970s band mungo jerry. in an interview he gave to the sun, he said that the estate he lived on was "rough and lots of the kids i saw got into drugs or fights". dappy showed interest in music from a young age. he started performing around camden town at the age of 13 years old. he performed with band members richard "fazer" rawson and tula "tulisa" contostavlos, who is his cousin. at the time they were called the "lickle rinsers crew". contostavlos and his band-mates studied at haverstock school. contostavlos was forced to leave the school when he was 15, for multiple truancies and fighting. he later went back to study at college and received a gcse a* in english. his father, byron was, to dappy, the "inspiration behind the band". with the money he made from his time in the band, bryon set up a small studio for the band. when byron died, the song n-dubz wrote "papa (can you hear me?)" was played at his funeral. it became the group's best hit at #19, and at #17 in the download charts. dappy later had the words "rip dad" tattooed on his neck. he refers to his dad as "b" or "uncle b".