He has featured on albums such as Mas Flow 2, Mas Flow 2.5, Chosen Few II: El Documental, Barrio Fino, and The Cosmic Game. His first solo album, Raised by the People, was released in May 2007.
Notch's mother is of Puerto Rican, Native American, Portuguese, and African-American descent. His father was born in Jamaica and is of Afro-Cuban and French descent. Howell’s parents separated when he was still an infant. He spent his early years with his mother, living in Hartford, Connecticut. Howell grew up in a multicultural neighborhood and learned Spanish because most of his friends at that time were of Hispanic descent. He left Connecticut to live with his father in Washington, D.C., when he was nine years old. Notch also spent a short time in Bermuda before moving back to Washington, D.C., where he lived until his early twenties.
