Born in Trinidad in 1971, Kevin Phillip was raised by his parents in Brooklyn's Canarsie neighborhood and by his grandmother at Tivoli Towers, an apartment complex in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights. He played basketball in high school but was also engaging in criminal business outside of classes. He dropped out of the eleventh grade to work, achieving a certificate in General Education Development (GED) later. Workplaces included Burger King, Waldbaum's grocery store and a messenger service. After taking a course at the Fashion Institute of Technology at twenty-one, he began creating and selling designs on t-shirts. In his early twenties, Phillip moved in with a friend in Crown Heights. An ex-convict, he established his own clothing retail shop, About Time Boutique, in 2008. Since the interview in 2010, the clothing store has closed. He went into business with his wife to open Candy Rush, a candy and ice cream shop, in 2011. That store closed in 2013. Phillip is the father to three boys and one girl and has spoken at public forums to encourage teens to become entrepreneurs.