Eddie Alberto Pérez was born in 1957 in Corozal, Puerto Rico, where he spent much of his childhood. In 1969 the Pérez family moved with Eddie and his eight siblings to Hartford, Connecticut, which at the time had a growing Puerto Rican community. The family moved 14 times between the Clay Arsenal and Frog Hollow neighborhoods while Perez was growing up. During his youth he was a member of the Ghetto Brothers gang. Perez graduated from Hartford Public High School and holds an associate degree from Capital Community College and a bachelor's degree in Economics from Trinity College (Connecticut).