Dex grew up in Englewood in the South Side of Chicago, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city. The area is home to other famous rappers, mostly of the drill scene, like Chief Keef, Fredo Santana, Lil Reese, and Lil Durk, the latter with whom Dex went to high school.
Before rap ,Dex spent much of his time hustling in the streets; he claims to have been selling drugs as recently as 2015. His decision to get out of the streets and pursue a music career was prompted by the loss of his mother. She died of breast cancer in September 2015, and Dex commemorated her passing with a tattoo of her name on his neck and another one of the breast cancer awareness ribbon on his cheek. Dex has a young daughter.
Dexter is his real name, but he has made sure to take inspiration from the boy-genius character from the famous Cartoon Network series.
The connection is ready-made not just due to Dex's name but also his cartoonish energy and mad scientist-like sonic experiments.
He favors extra bubbly trap-driven electronic beats, and he often sharpens his pitch into something that sounds computer-generated. More recently, he has begun to call himself "Dexter The Robot," which was the title of a mixtape he dropped in September.