Oltyy was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in the year 2000. His family moved to the Netherlands when he was young, where he developed a passion for music and football. Despite gaining attention from professional football clubs, a severe injury led him to focus on music. In 2017, he gained viral attention on social media with his freestyle rap skills, leading him to take music seriously. After dropping his first official track, he gained 250,000 streams in three months before it was removed due to rights issues. Now signed with Walboomers Music, Oltyy is inspired by Afropop, R&B, hip hop and aims to become a star in the Netherlands, with plans to eventually start his own label.