Lorenzo Smith was born on May 23, 1972, in Havana, Florida. As a child, he sang in the churches and was an avid listener of Michael Jackson, El Debarge, James Brown and Sam Cooke. In high school, Lorenzo was active and competed in sports, a fact reflected by his strong build. In 1990, Lorenzo put out his first album, Let Me Show You. The album was released with Alpha International through CEMA Records. The album's title track reached No. 64 on the R&B charts, while the album's other single "Tic Tok" reached No. 41.