Born in Boca Raton, Florida, on May 3, 1971, Billy Lawrence took her first steps in music as a background singer for Jamaican star Jimmy Cliff in 1992. Two years later, the US singer-songwriter dropped her varied debut album, the new jack swing-spiced One Might Say, which also embraced soul, R&B and jazz and was released on EastWest records. Sophomore album Paradise arrived in 1997, with a guest spot rapper from MC Lyte on first single "Come On" – which had been featured on the soundtrack for 1996 crime action movie Set It Off the previous year – stirring up attention. Lawrence enjoyed a fruitful run of collaborative work, including appearances on debut single "Take It to the Streets" by label-mate Rampage in 1997, a spot on the multi-platinum debut album by Mase, Harlem World. In 1999, she provided background vocals on Jennifer Lopez's debut album On the 6. That same year, Lawrence was on the cusp of issuing her third album when she got dropped from her label, Elektra Entertainment. A pair of collaborative singles came in 2002; "Tell Me" and "Now That You're Gone" with Smilez and Southstar and compilation album Billy Lawrence - The Collection surfaced in 2019.
