E-40 was born in Vallejo.^[2][1] He grew up with his siblings raised by a divorced mother who worked three jobs, and he became interested in hip hop after hearing "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang.^[3][4] Beginning in fourth grade, Stevens played the snare and bass drum.^[3] He graduated from Hogan High School in Vallejo in 1985.^[5][6]Stevens played baseball in high school, recorded music with his siblings, and sold their recordings from the back of a car.^[7] After high school, Stevens enrolled at Grambling State University in 1986 with his cousin Brandt Jones and attended the school for one year.^{[8][9][10][3]}

Stevens made his rap debut as E-40 in 1986 with his cousin B-Legit, sister Suga-T, and brother D-Shot in the group Most Valuable Players. After impressing fellow students with a rap remix of the school song and a Grambling State talent show, Most Valuable Players released a single, "The King's Men".^[11][3] The group later became The Click and released the EP Let's Side in 1990.^[2]The EP was co-produced by Mike Mosley and Al Eaton and was released on Sick Wid It Records, an independent label founded by E-40. In 1992 they released a second album, Down and Dirty, and in 1993 E-40 made his solo album debut. Federal, a nine-track LP/14-track CD produced by Studio Ton and released by Sick Wid It Records in association with SMG (Solar Music Group), a regional distributor.

In 1993 the Click had mainstream hit, "Captain Save a Hoe" (radio edit "Captain Save Them Thoe"). They moved back to Vallejo and teamed up with D-Shot, E-40's brother, to form the group MVP or Most Valuable Players. E-40's gospel singing uncle (Saint Charles) helped them put out the record.^[12] Suga-T was then added to the group to form the Click.^[13]

Although having a large following on the West Coast, E-40 did not have a large mainstream audience, so only two of his songs released under Jive Records, "1-Luv" featuring Levitti and "Things'll Never Change" featuring Bo-Roc, charted on the Billboard Hot 100.^[2] He had been working nearly exclusively with rappers from the Bay Area until 1997, when he released the double disc compilation Southwest Riders featuring exclusively rap acts from the Bay Area and the south. His collaboration with southern rappers continued in 1998, when he was given guest appearances on albums by Southern rappers, including Lost by Eightball, and MP da Last Donby Master P.^[2]

In 2003 E-40 began hosting E-Feezy Radio, a weekly program on San Francisco hip-hop radio station KMEL that showcased Bay Area hip hop.^[14] KMEL regularly broadcast the program until 2008. After completing a deal with Jive Recordshe signed with Lil Jon's BME Recordings and Reprise Records. After the signing, he appeared on Lil Jon's single "Snap Yo Fingers", also featuring Sean P of YoungBloodZ, which became a hit reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Afterwards, his single "Tell Me When to Go", featuring Oakland rapper Keak da Sneak, became popular throughout the United States, and E-40 appeared on MTV's Direct Effect and BET's 106 & Park. Publicity for E-40 was achieved through the MTV special My Block: The Bay.^[15] He later released "U and Dat" in April 2006, featuring T-Pain and Kandi Girl and produced by Lil Jon. His album My Ghetto Report Card debuted at #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #3 on the Billboard Hot 200 on March 14, 2006.^[16] Released through Sick Wid It/BME/Warner Bros. Records, the album was produced by Lil Jon, Rick Rock, and E-40's son, Droop-E.^[17] On March 30, 2010, E-40 released two albums called Revenue Retrievin': Day Shift and Revenue Retrievin': Night Shift.^[18] Both include guest appearances from Too Short, Snoop Dogg, Gucci Mane, Bobby V, and more. They debuted at numbers 47 & 49 respectively on the 200. The first single from the Day Shift album is "Bitch" featuring Too Short. On March 29, 2011, E-40 released two albums called Revenue Retrievin': Overtime Shift and Revenue Retrievin': Graveyard Shift. They include guest spots from Lil Jon, Bun B, Slim Thug, Tech N9ne & more. They both entered on the 200 chart at #'s 42 & 40. In November 2010, E-40 and Too Shortannounced that they would release two collaborative album in Summer 2012 entitled History: Mob Music and History: Function Music. E-40 also performed at the Gathering of the Juggalos.^[19]