Bushwick Bill was born under the name Richard Stephen Shaw in Kingston, Jamaica, on December 1, 1966. His father is a merchant marine, and his mother a maid. According to a source from the Houston Chronicle, he is a high school dropout, and reads at the fourth grade level. He has failed a majority of courses in his freshman year in high school. Like actors Billy Barty and Herve Villechaize, he is a dwarf. His stage name came from the Brooklyn district that he lived in.