He was the original composer of the song vọng cổ which started a new genre of cải lương music in the 1920s.
At the age of 4, he moved to Bạc Liêu and spent all his life there.
In Bạc Liêu, he studied chữ Hán with a monk and then attended a French primary school.
Because Tấn was not pregnant after three year of marriage, Lầu was forced to send his wife back to her family due to local custom.
This separation was inspired Cao Văn Lầu in comprising his best known love-song Dạ cổ hoài lang (Night Drum Beats Cause Longing for Absent Husband),[3] a song that have a great influence in cải lương music.