Koenig was born in New York City, and is the son of Bobby Bass, a psychotherapist, and Robin Koenig, a set dresser on film and TV productions. His parents lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan before moving to Glen Ridge, New Jersey. He is Jewish, and his family came to the U.S. from Europe (including Romania and Hungary). He grew up in Northern New Jersey and attended Glen Ridge High School.

Following a hiatus from Vampire Weekend, Koenig wrote and produced an animated comedy-adventure series about a depressive, demon-slaying playboy voiced by Jaden Smith. The series, titled Neo Yokio, debuted on Netflix in September 2017.The show was written and produced in 2015, with the final sound mix being completed in January 2016, however, due to issues with Fox, the show was postponed until finally being picked up by Netflix. Yokio is presented in the style of a Japanese anime series. However, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he stated that he believes the show is not a traditional anime, "First of all, out of respect for true anime, I've always called Neo Yokio "anime-inspired" - it's a hybrid. But I've always been a fan of anime, and I always wanted to do something that was kind of an homage to it. Maybe a loving parody. Initially the people I was working with thought I should be the voice of the main character, but I was, like, 'I just spent seven years being the frontman of something, using my voice all the time. What I need right now is to slip into the background of something.'" Upon release, the show's first season received mixed reviews from critics, earning a 36% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Writer, Shannon Liao of The Verge criticised the show's story and voice-acting, citing, "the initial glamor of the backdrops and talent involved wears off fast. It has awful voice acting, and a pointless, predictable story that's only surprising because it's so willing to hit the bottom of the barrel." Contrastingly, The New York Times gave the show a more optimistic review, stating, "if a defensive reading of the line, "Yes, my girlfriend broke up with me to take a finance job in San Francisco," makes you chuckle, "Neo Yokio" may be for you." On an episode of Time Crisis in early 2018, Koenig spoke about the future of Yokio, hinting that "Neo's not dead."

When did it actually debut?
January 2016,