Fanon Flowers was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan, exactly halfway between Detroit and Chicago, the birthplaces of techno and house music. At the age of 17, Fanon purchased his first synthesizer and drum machine and started buying dance 12" records. Mentored by hometown DJ/Producers Jay Denham and Tony Jackson, he soon developed a style which combined the funky, syncopated rhythms of techno with the soul of house music. Fanon also composed tracks with high school classmate Donnell Knox (a.k.a. D. Knox).