From his real name Elie Yaffa, Booba is a French rapper born in Boulogne-Billancourt, December 9, 1976. Coming from a modest family, Booba grew up in the Hauts-de-Seine.

During a trip to his Senegalese family, he met one of his cousins named Boubacar, and it was in homage to the latter that Booba would later take his stage name. He meets Daddy Ali while he is still a hip hop dancer. With him, he set up his first group: Lunatic.