His father was an IT specialist before becoming a psychic. His mother, Deborah Butler, was a paralegal at the North Carolina Patent and Trademark Office. Quattlebaum's parents divorced when he was two years old, As a child, he lived in San Mateo County, California, near his paternal grandparents, before moving to Raleigh, North Carolina,At the age of 15, Quattlebaum won an Indies Spirit Award for the performance collective he founded, Paint In Consciousness Experimental Theater, in Raleigh.

When Quattlebaum was 16, he ran away from home, before moving to New York City. He then spent time in California, before winning a full scholarship to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, but dropped out of college after two semesters in 2006.He also briefly attended the Parsons The New School for Design in New York City.