Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence

Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence
Background information
Birth nameVal Anthony Ronald Lawrence
Born (1965-11-14) November 14, 1965 (age 59)
Dominica
OriginNew York City, U.S.
GenresHip hop, R&B
Occupation(s)Record producer, filmmaker
Websitethisisron.com

Val Anthony Ronald Lawrence (born November 14, 1965), known professionally as Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, is an American record producer.[1]

Early life

Lawrence was born on the island of Dominica. In 1970, his family immigrated to the United States,[2] settling in East Elmhurst, Queens, in New York City.[3] After high school, he attended Howard University.

In college he met Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie,[4] and formed the rap duo Two Kings in a Cipher, which released the album From Pyramids to Projects.[5] Later, the duo joined the Bad Boy Entertainment production team called "The Hitmen", with fellow Howard University alumnus Sean "Diddy" Combs.[6]

Music career

The Hit Men produced numerous rap[7][8] and R&B[9] hits of prominent radio play. He is best known for the singles "Hypnotize"[10] by The Notorious B.I.G, "Been Around The World" by Sean "Diddy" Combs,[11] "Where I'm From"[12] by Jay-Z,[13] "Money, Power, Respect" by The Lox,[14] the Grammy-nominated "Love Like This"[15] as well as "All Night Long"[15] by Faith Evans,[16] "Phenomenon" by LL Cool J, "You Should Be Mine"[17] by Brian McKnight, "Can't Let Her Go"[18] by Boyz II Men, "Cold Rock a Party" remix[19] by MC Lyte, and "The Theme (It's Party Time)"[20] by Tracey Lee. He produced the song "Wonderful" for Aretha Franklin[21] for her album So Damn Happy.[22] On June 23, 1998, Lawrence received a Governors Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences on.[23] In 1999, Ron produced "In For Life" by Terror Squad from their self-titled debut album and featured verses from Big Pun, Triple Seis, Prospect, and Cuban Link.

Lawrence created the hip-hop source score of Spike Lee's film Bamboozled,[24][25] and appearing in it as a musical engineer. He produced the theme song " A Woman Like Me", by Beyoncé, for the Pink Panther soundtrack. Lawrence himself later studied film at the New York Film Academy and created the short film Founding Fathers,[26] a documentary on hip hop's birth and evolution.

In 2014, Lawrence started a film production company Spotlyte Media.[24] In 2015, he produced and edited the short film Above the Sun.[24][27] In 2016, he wrote, directed and produced the short film, Angel of Light[28] and the documentary Commutation for Guy Fisher.[29] In 2017, he produced, directed and edited the documentary Rap Dimension,[24][2] and Rolling Stone published Jay-Z's 50 greatest songs with Lawrence's production[30] coming at number one.

In 2018, he produced and edited the webisode series "Diary of a Music Producer".[31] In 2019, Lawrence published his autobiography[32] titled Where I'm From, a book about his life story growing up in East Elmhurst, his experience at Howard University and creating hits for various musicians. He also appeared in the Netflix series, Hip-Hop Evolution, season 3[33] episode 2 which is titled Life After Death,[34] covers a segment on Sean "Diddy" Combs and The Hitmen.

Studio album

With Two Kings in a Cipher

  • From Pyramids to Projects (Bahia/RCA, 1991)

Production Credits!

Year Artist Song Album
1994 A.D.O.R. Life Flow The Concrete
Ed O.G. Going Out My Mind (No More Love Mix) Non-album single
1995 Suga What's Up Star The Show (soundtrack)
1996 MC Lyte Cold Rock a Party (Remix) Bad As I Wanna Be
1997 Brian McKnight, Ma$e You Should Be Mine (Don't Waste Your Time)
Notorious B.I.G. Hypnotize Life After Death
Tracey Lee The Theme (Keep Your Hands High); Big Will; Clue (Who Shot J.R.?) Many Faces
Puff Daddy Big Ole Butt In the Beginning... There Was Rap
Boyz II Men Can't Let Her Go Evolution
Puff Daddy (+ Family) Been Around the World; Don't Stop What; I Love You Baby No Way Out
LSG, Lox You Got Me LSG
LL Cool J Phenomenon; Hot Hot Hot Phenomenon
Mase Do You Wanna Get Money?; Will They Die 4 U?; Wanna Hurt Ma$e? Harlem World
Jay-Z I Know What Girls Like; Where I'm From In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
1998 MC Lyte Woo Woo (Freak Out) Woo (soundtrack)
Oogie Boogie Seven & 7
Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz My Time to Go Make It Reign
Tyrese You Get Yours Tyrese
R. Kelly Spendin' Money R.
System of a Down, Boys Will They Die 4 U? Chef Aid Soundtrack

References

  1. ^ "RON AHMEN-RA LAWRENCE". Sensay.com. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "A New Documentary Shows Rap Has Been Around for More Than 70 Years (Video)". February 22, 2017.
  3. ^ "5 Rules Every Aspiring Hip-Hop Producer Needs to Know". Complex.com.
  4. ^ Group, Vibe Media (August 1998). "Vibe". {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ "From Pyramids to Projects - Two Kings in a Cipher | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  6. ^ "Bad Boy Blog » Exclusive: The Hitmen Live". Badboyblog.com. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  7. ^ Shawn Setaro, "How producer Ron Lawrence made Bad Boy's greatest hits", Complex, August 2, 2018.
  8. ^ "Ron Lawrence | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  9. ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (May 10, 1997). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  10. ^ "Randy 'Badazz' Alpert Remembers 'Rise,' Sampled in the Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Hypnotize'". Billboard.com.
  11. ^ "How Producer Ron Lawrence Made Bad Boy's Greatest Hits". Complex. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  12. ^ Christopher R. Weingarten; Elias Leight; Mosi Reeves; Al Shipley; Jason Newman; Christina Lee; David Drake; Maura Johnston; Dan Hyman (October 27, 2017). "Jay-Z: 50 Greatest Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  13. ^ "NO ONE HAS DONE IT BETTER - Jay-Z and Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, photographed..." NO ONE HAS DONE IT BETTER. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  14. ^ "The Lox - Money, Power & Respect". Discogs.com.
  15. ^ a b "Faith Evans (Ft. Diddy) – All Night Long". Genius.com.
  16. ^ "Faith Evans Picks up Grammy Nod as Lauryn Hill Track Found Ineligible". Mtv.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2018.
  17. ^ "Brian McKnight (Ft. Ma$e) – You Should be Mine (Don't Waste Your Time)". Genius.com.
  18. ^ "SoulBounce's Class of 1997: Boyz II Men 'Evolution' | SoulBounce". Soulbounce.com. December 23, 2017.
  19. ^ "Release "Cold Rock a Party" by MC Lyte". Musicbrainz.org.
  20. ^ "The Theme". Discogs.com.
  21. ^ "Aretha Franklin". Grammy.com. June 4, 2019.
  22. ^ "So Damn Happy - Aretha Franklin | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  23. ^ "Billboard". July 11, 1998.
  24. ^ a b c d "Ron Lawrence". IMDb. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  25. ^ "Bamboozled (2000)". IMDb.com.
  26. ^ "Founding Fathers: The Untold Story Of Hip Hop [Full Movie]". VannDigital.com. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  27. ^ "Above the Sun (2015)". IMDb.com.
  28. ^ "Angel of Light". IMDb.com.
  29. ^ "Commutation for Guy Fisher New Doc. on the Harlem Legend @GFisherMusik". Rappersiq.com. April 28, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  30. ^ Hyman, Christopher R. Weingarten, Elias Leight, Mosi Reeves, Al Shipley, Jason Newman, Christina Lee, David Drake, Maura Johnston, Dan; Weingarten, Christopher R.; Leight, Elias; Reeves, Mosi; Shipley, Al; Newman, Jason; Lee, Christina; Drake, David; Johnston, Maura; Hyman, Dan (December 4, 2019). "Jay-Z: 50 Greatest Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 17, 2021.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ "Ron Lawrence Takes a Quick Look at the Culturally Rich and Diverse History of East Elmhurst, Queens « GRNDGD".
  32. ^ "Book Store". Ron Lawrence. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  33. ^ "Hip-Hop Evolution | Netflix Official Site". Netflix.com. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  34. ^ Hip-Hop Evolution: Season 2 | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix, retrieved October 23, 2019