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Cuckii Booker was inspired to play piano at age seven by his mother, a gospel pianist. At 13, he became enamored of jazz, thanks to his Uncle Darnell, a jazz flautist who turned him on to Bob James, Hubert Laws, Richard Tee, Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock. Barry White was also a major influence and Booker's godfather.
Chuckii's best friend, Rex Salas, was a keyboard player for the group Tease ("Firestarter"), and when he left to tour with Jeffrey Osborne, he asked Booker to fill in for him. Chuckii played on their second and third albums, and wrote some songs for the group. Saxophonist Gerald Albright asked Booker to play on his album, and in November of 1988, Booker decided it was time to make his own statement. He submitted a tape of instrumental jams to Albright's manager, Raymond Shields, without realizing that the other side of the tape contained homemade demos of Booker singing his own material. Shields loved what he heard, agreed to manage Booker, and signed him to Atlantic Records.
Chuckii went to work on his first album Chuckii. One of his collaborators was Donnell Spencer Jr., who had also played in Albright's band.
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