Philadelphia rapper RecoHavoc emerged from hard times with a vision for building his music. After a series of self-released tracks and viral videos, the rapper was acknowledged by established peers like PnB Rock and Lil Uzi Vert as an up-and-coming talent. The rapper's uniquely hypnotic style of delivery developed to include more nuanced storytelling as his career quickly grew, and in 2017 he signed a deal with Atlantic Records. The major label released his DJ Drama-hosted mixtape Started in 2018. RecoHavoc grew up in Southwest Philadelphia, interested in rapping and dance from a young age. By the time he was 16, however, he was sent to juvenile correctional facilities for robbery charges, and while he was incarcerated his mother died. With no mother and a largely absent father who was struggling with addiction and his own legal troubles, RecoHavoc moved to Georgia to live with his aunt after his release. It was in this difficult transitional time that he became focused on his music, deciding to move back to Philadelphia and invest in proper recording of his new material. In 2016 he began uploading singles online, as well as working on several videos. His song "Lucas" gained regional attention as well as a viral view count, with its video collecting millions of streams in a short time. This and the casually released mixtape One Way Out caught the ear of both Reco's peers, local radio, and labels, and Atlantic signed the rapper in 2017. The major-label partnership brought much more visibility and RecoHavoc rolled out a string of singles before the release of his 2018 mixtape Started. This would be his first widely available project and the DJ Drama-hosted collection featured standout singles like "Flexxx," "Mission," and the nostalgic "Sandbox." ~ Fred Thomas