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Allan Pineda Lindo was born in Angeles City, Philippines. His Filipino mother, Cristina Pineda, raised him and his six younger siblings as a single mother. His African American father, an airman stationed at Clark Air Base, left the family shortly after his birth. As a child, Pineda would make an hour-long jeepney trip to and from his school and helped his family subsist by farming sweet potatoes, corn, sugar cane and rice. The Pearl S. Buck Foundation, an organization that finds healthier living environments for young, abandoned, or orphaned American children, matched him with a sponsor named Joe Ben Hudgens, a lawyer, through a dollar-a-day program.

Allan initially came to the US at age eleven for treatment for nystagmus, an involuntary movement of the eyes. After a trip to Disneyland, Pineda expressed his interest in residing in the US. It would take another three years for Hudgens to officially adopt him, but at age fourteen, he relocated and resided with them.

In Los Angeles, California, Pineda attended John Marshall High School, where he met and befriended William Adams (stage name will.i.am), the nephew of Hudgens' roommate.

Pineda's early musical influences came from his mother who listened to Stevie Wonder, the Eagles, the Beatles, and the Filipino rock/folk group Asin. Pineda was introduced to hip hop and break dancing by watching urban kids in Angeles City: "I would see kids at the corner break-dancing and I'm like, 'I wanna do that.'" Pineda revealed to People magazine in 2011 that he is legally blind in both eyes, as he has continued to suffer from nystagmus. His vision was corrected in 2012.

He has lost two of his siblings: his younger brother Arnel died by suicide (this is referenced in "The Apl Song" in the lines "I guess sometimes life's stresses get you down on your knees/Oh brother, wish I could have helped you out"). His youngest brother, Joven Pineda Deala, was murdered at age 22 in February 2009 in Porac, Pampanga.