From his real name Elhadji Diallo, Elzo Jamdong was born in the center of Dakar, the district of Plateau. He grew up in a family of music lovers, including an amateur father of jazz and Cuban music and a brother keyboard player. Westcoast rap fan, he calls himself Free E (inspired by Eazy E) and writes his first steps in college in 4th grade. After his Bac, he moved to Lille in France in 2006 and formed the collective Jamdong with other student friends from Dakar with whom he produced two mixtapes (Red Alert in 2009 and Gold Medal in 2012).