On February 18, 1965, André Romelle Young, the first child of Verna and Theodore Young, was born. His mother, who later married her teen boyfriend, Theodore, became pregnant when she was only 16 years old, giving birth to him. The amateur R&B singing group The Romells, which was fronted by Theodore Young, gave Young his middle name, 'Romelle.' His mother had two sons named Jerome and Tyree (both of whom are now deceased) and a daughter named Shameka with Curtis Crayon after divorcing Theodore Young in 1968.
Small was attracted by vinyl records spinning on phonographs as a young child; his family's record collection featured numerous well-known R&B recordings from the 1960s and 1970s, from artists like Diana Ross. His mother, Verna, said in a Los Angeles Times interview that she found R&B music to be a release from the two jobs she had to work every day. Despite her financial difficulties, she kept telling Young to never give up. Young and his step-brother Tyree were mostly raised by their grandmother and Curtis Crayon during Verna's second marriage because their mother spent a lot of time looking for jobs.
Young had a new sister named Shameka and started attending Vanguard Junior High School in 1976. He transferred to adjacent Roosevelt Junior High School nonetheless, because of the gang violence in the Vanguard neighborhood. After meeting Warren Griffin at her new job in Long Beach, Verna later married him, bringing three new stepsisters and one new stepbrother into the family. Warren Griffin III, the stepbrother, would later take the stage name Warren G and perform as a rapper.
Young began his freshman year of high school at Centennial High School in Compton in 1979, but because of subpar academics, he transferred to Fremont High School. Young and Lisa Johnson gave birth to a baby on December 15, 1981, although Curtis Young was not raised by his father and they only got together after Curtis had turned 18.