Lorenzo: a young rapper full of potential

Dar es Salaam. Every successful artiste has a story of how they got where they are and so does up and coming rapper Brian Lorenzo who has began shaking the established order.

And according to him he is ok with just being called Lorenzo because he thinks it suits his branding as a rapper.

The young rapper’s childhood was one full of painful experiences after he lost his parents at a very young age, something that continues to influence his music even today.

Growing up in streets of Botswana, Lorenzo says he had almost a regular childhood like most people in a family of two kids. He speaks English, Kiswahili, French and Setswana.

Family

Both his parents were originally from Kagera in Tanzania. The family moved to Botswana when Lorenzo was a three-year-old boy and so he grew up blending with the new culture and environment.

Lorenzo discovered that he could sing and rap at the age of Nine when he realized that he could play with words something that he calls ‘word play’.

He explains that he mastered the art and skills of writing poems, so it came easy for him to start writing lyrics.

However he officially knew that had to pursue rap for a carrier when his father died in 2002 and 10 years later his mother too, died .

“My dad’s passing had hit my mother so hard and so I used my diary to write about my mother’s grief and pain. I wrote about how our days passed without dad and that helped me accept the situation and deal with it.”

Growing up to a doctor father and a businesswoman mother, his parents wanted him to pursue other professions but not music.

After his parents’ death he became free to pursue music even though his other relatives remained negative about it.

“The death of my parents has made appreciate life more because if God took them and made me remain it means he has a purpose for me and I’ve got to live up to that.”

According to him, what he’s been through, is what keeps him focused to his music especially the day his mother took time to listen to his music.

“She came back to Tanzania with my little brother because life became unbearable in Botswana without their main breadwinner.”

Lorenzo remained in Botswana for school but then later he had to return to Tanzania when his mother’s health worsened and later lost her life.

Music and inspiration

Lorenzo has so far done three songs including ‘ DSM City’ featuring Godzilla, ‘Nimekumiss’ featuring Bill Nass, ‘Hello’ featuring Mesen Selekta, ‘Thinking back’ which is a tribute to his late mother and his most recent track ‘Whatever’.

He has dreams of working with some artistes who are on top of the game such as Vanessa Mdee, Stamina, and Roma.

His greatest inspiration however comes from Dwayne Michael Carter Jr aka Lil Wayne an American rapper whom he models his career around.

“He’s been in the game for a long time and I want to just hurry up and do a collabo with him in the future, I want to work as hard as he has.”

Apart from music Lorenzo says he likes soccer and can play too. He also defines himself as an opinionated individual who isn’t afraid to share his mind.

He also hints on his greatest fear to be letting down people who believe in him.

“The thought of me letting them down scares me so much because that way I know I’m not fulfilling my potential.”

He adds that he doesn’t want to end up tagged ‘an artist who tried and failed’ and that is why he is focused on working hard to realise his potential.

Lorenzo says his fans should get ready for more videos and music as well as stage shows this year.