Val Anthony Ronald Lawrence (born November 14, 1965), known professionally as Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, is an American record producer.[1]
Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Val Anthony Ronald Lawrence |
| Born | November 14, 1965 Dominica |
| Origin | New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop, R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer, filmmaker |
| Website | thisisron |
Early life edit
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 edit
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]
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 edit
With Two Kings in a Cipher
- From Pyramids to Projects (Bahia/RCA, 1991)
References edit
- ^ "RON AHMEN-RA LAWRENCE". Sensay.com. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
- ^ a b "A New Documentary Shows Rap Has Been Around for More Than 70 Years (Video)". February 22, 2017.
- ^ "5 Rules Every Aspiring Hip-Hop Producer Needs to Know". Complex.com.
- ^ Group, Vibe Media (August 1998). "Vibe".
- ^ "From Pyramids to Projects - Two Kings in a Cipher | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
- ^ "Bad Boy Blog » Exclusive: The Hitmen Live". Badboyblog.com. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ Shawn Setaro, "How producer Ron Lawrence made Bad Boy's greatest hits", Complex, August 2, 2018.
- ^ "Ron Lawrence | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (May 10, 1997). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
{{cite book}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "Randy 'Badazz' Alpert Remembers 'Rise,' Sampled in the Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Hypnotize'". Billboard.com.
- ^ "How Producer Ron Lawrence Made Bad Boy's Greatest Hits". Complex. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "NO ONE HAS DONE IT BETTER - Jay-Z and Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, photographed..." NO ONE HAS DONE IT BETTER. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
- ^ "The Lox - Money, Power & Respect". Discogs.com.
- ^ a b "Faith Evans (Ft. Diddy) – All Night Long". Genius.com.
- ^ "Faith Evans Picks up Grammy Nod as Lauryn Hill Track Found Ineligible". Mtv.com.
- ^ "Brian McKnight (Ft. Ma$e) – You Should be Mine (Don't Waste Your Time)". Genius.com.
- ^ "SoulBounce's Class of 1997: Boyz II Men 'Evolution' | SoulBounce". Soulbounce.com. December 23, 2017.
- ^ "Release "Cold Rock a Party" by MC Lyte". Musicbrainz.org.
- ^ "The Theme". Discogs.com.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin". Grammy.com. June 4, 2019.
- ^ "So Damn Happy - Aretha Franklin | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
- ^ "Billboard". July 11, 1998.
- ^ a b c d "Ron Lawrence". IMDb. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ "Bamboozled (2000)". IMDb.com.
- ^ "Founding Fathers: The Untold Story Of Hip Hop [Full Movie]". VannDigital.com. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
- ^ "Above the Sun (2015)". IMDb.com.
- ^ "Angel of Light". IMDb.com.
- ^ "Commutation for Guy Fisher New Doc. on the Harlem Legend @GFisherMusik". Rappersiq.com. April 28, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ 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) - ^ "Ron Lawrence Takes a Quick Look at the Culturally Rich and Diverse History of East Elmhurst, Queens « GRNDGD".
- ^ "Book Store". Ron Lawrence. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
- ^ "Hip-Hop Evolution | Netflix Official Site". Netflix.com. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
- ^ Hip-Hop Evolution: Season 2 | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix, retrieved October 23, 2019