Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence
Background information
Birth nameVal Anthony Ronald Lawrence
Born (1965-11-14) November 14, 1965
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]

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. On November 1, 2019, the action committee of Corona-East Elmhurst Langston Hughes Library honored him with the Community Historian Award at their 50th-anniversary celebration.

On October 17, 2022, Ron was acknowledged with the "Career Excellence" award at Cramton Auditorium, located on the Howard University campus. A few days later, on October 22, 2022, Howard University Alumnus saluted him again with the "Bison Honors" award in recognition of his unwavering dedication to achieving excellence.

Furthermore, in 2023 Ron's musical talents are also featured on the A&E television show, 'Hip Hop Treasures'. He composed the opening music for this show, which is hosted by well-known artists LL Cool J, and Ice T.

Studio album

With Two Kings in a Cipher

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

References

  1. ↑ "RON AHMEN-RA LAWRENCE". Sensay.com. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "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".
  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.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  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. 1 2 "Faith Evans (Ft. Diddy) – All Night Long". Genius.com.
  16. ↑ "Faith Evans Picks up Grammy Nod as Lauryn Hill Track Found Ineligible". Mtv.com.
  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. 1 2 3 4 "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
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