After graduating from high school in Newburgh, NY, Pardi attended Goldey-Beacom College in Wilmington, DE, where he earned a full scholarship to play Division II basketball. However, Pardi ended up dropping out after one semester in order to pursue music. As he explained to XXL during a September 2018 interview, "I was always 100 percent basketball — I did everything you could do to be good at basketball. Then one day I was like, 'Nah. I got a real drive and hunger for music.' It literally took over my whole purpose." He decided to drop out when he was home for winter break, and luckily, the decision paid off.