McAlmont was born on 2 May 1967 to a Guyanese mother and Nigerian father. His mother was a nurse and his father, a law student. He, his mother and sister moved to Gorleston on Sea, Norfolk, where his education continued at Peterhouse Primary School. In 1978 the family departed the United Kingdom for Guyana. The family resided with his grandparents in Lovely Lass Village Berbice, and with his aunt in Wismar, Demerara, moving onto the East Bank of the Demerara River at Grove and Craig. In 1978, McAlmont scored well on his Secondary School Entrance Examination and attended the Queen's College, Georgetown, Guyana. David's education continued from 1989 at Middlesex Polytechnic where he read Performing Arts on the BAPA programme before leaving to sign a publishing contract with Chrysalis Music in 1992, followed by a record deal with Virgin's Hut Records two years later.