Born and raised in New Orleans, Ayo Scott is a graduate of Ben Franklin High School and Xavier University. He entered grad school at The Institute of Design in Chicago before taking a year off to create a series of paintings inspired by the tsunami of 2004. Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans the year after, prompting Scott to immediately return to New Orleans. While living in his parents gutted home in the Gentilly neighborhood, he started a clothing and design company which continued for several years until he began to drift from commercial work toward his own artistic projects.