Given their name by a friend, who was taken aback after hearing their confrontational rhymes, Tee (born Teosha Thomas) and Gunna (born Jasmine Baker) joined forces as high schoolers in their native East St. Louis, IL. After some local performances, the two drove to a New York talent search, where they impressed budding music moguls Sita Lewis and Ty Fyffe (the latter a producer who had worked with the likes of Wreckx-N-Effect, Busta Rhymes, and 50 Cent).