Raised in the Sulawesi province of Gorontalo, Indonesia, Ecko Show first stepped into the local hip-hop scene as an 18-year-old, when he joined the collective that would become GHC, then operating under the name HipHop Hulondhalo, a year after he launched his formal music career in 2006. Just a year after joining that formative collective, in 2007, he signed to IMR Record, where he released his first major compilation project, HipHop Sulawesi, a collaborative album made with frequent early creative partner MCG, before stepping away from the label to build his career as an independent artist, a choice that would let him shape the sound that would eventually earn him widespread acclaim across his home country and beyond.