Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence
Val Anthony Ronald Lawrence (born[1] November 14, 1965), known professionally as Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence is an American record producer.
Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Val Anthony Ronald Lawrence |
Born | Dominica | November 14, 1965
Origin | East Elmhurst Queens, New York |
Genres | Hip Hop, R&B |
Occupation(s) | Record producer, documentarian, director, film editor, street photographer & public speaker |
Associated acts | Sean Combs, Notorious B.I.G, Jay Z, LL Cool J, Faith Evans, The Lox, Aretha Franklin, Beyonce and Luther Vandross |
Website | http://www.thisisron.com |
Lawrence was born on the island 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 a Bad Boy Entertainment production team called "The Hit Men", 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"[16] by Faith Evans, [17] "Phenomenon" by LL Cool J, "You Should Be Mine"[18] by Brian McKnight, "Can't Let Her Go"[19] by Boyz II Men, "Cold Rock A Party" remix[20] by MC Lyte, and "The Theme (It's Party Time)"[21] by Tracey Lee. He produced the song "Wonderful" for Aretha Franklin [22], for her album So Damn Happy,[23] a song whereby she won a Grammy for Best Vocal Performance. On June 23, 1998, Ron received a Governors Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences on.[24]
Ron created the hip-hop source score of Spike Lee's film Bamboozled,[25] [26], 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,"[27] a documentary on hip hop's birth and evolution.
In 2014 Ron started a film production company Spotlyte Media.[28] In 2015, he produced and edited the short film "Above The Sun [29] [30]". In 2016 he wrote, directed and produced the short film, "Angel Of Light" [31] and the documentary "Commutation [32] For Guy Fisher". In 2017, he produced, directed and edited the documentary Rap Dimension [33] [34] and Rolling Stone published Jay-Z’s 50 greatest songs with Ron’s production Where I’m From coming at number one. In 2018, he produced and edited the webisode series, "Diary Of A Music Producer" [35]. In 2019 Ron published his autobiography[36] 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 music industry legends. He also appeared in the Netflix series, Hip Hop Evolution, Season 3 [37] [38] Episode 2 which is titled Life After Death [39], 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 Ron with the Community Historian Award at their 50th-anniversary celebration.
Studio album
With Two Kings in a Cipher
- From Pyramids to Projects (Bahia/RCA, 1991)
External links
References
- "RON AHMEN-RA LAWRENCE". sensay.com. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- "A New Documentary Shows Rap Has Been Around for More Than 70 Years (Video)". 2017-02-22.
- "5 Rules Every Aspiring Hip-Hop Producer Needs to Know".
- Group, Vibe Media (August 1998). "Vibe".
- "From Pyramids to Projects - Two Kings in a Cipher | Songs, Reviews, Credits".
- "Bad Boy Blog » Exclusive: The Hitmen Live".
- Shawn Setaro, "How producer Ron Lawrence made Bad Boy’s greatest hits", Complex, 2 Aug 2018.
- "Ron Lawrence | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
- Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1997-05-10). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
- "Randy 'Badazz' Alpert Remembers 'Rise,' Sampled in the Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Hypnotize'".
- "How Producer Ron Lawrence Made Bad Boy's Greatest Hits". Complex. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- Hyman, Christopher R. Weingarten,Elias Leight,Mosi Reeves,Al Shipley,Jason Newman,Christina Lee,David Drake,Maura Johnston,Dan (2017-10-27). "Jay-Z: 50 Greatest Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- "NO ONE HAS DONE IT BETTER - Jay-Z and Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, photographed..." NO ONE HAS DONE IT BETTER. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- "The Lox - Money, Power & Respect".
- "Faith Evans (Ft. Diddy) – All Night Long".
- "Faith Evans (Ft. Diddy) – All Night Long".
- "Faith Evans Picks up Grammy Nod as Lauryn Hill Track Found Ineligible".
- "Brian McKnight (Ft. Ma$e) – You Should be Mine (Don't Waste Your Time)".
- "SoulBounce's Class of 1997: Boyz II Men 'Evolution' | SoulBounce | SoulBounce".
- "Release "Cold Rock a Party" by MC Lyte - MusicBrainz".
- "The Theme".
- "Aretha Franklin". 2019-06-04.
- "So Damn Happy - Aretha Franklin | Songs, Reviews, Credits".
- "Billboard". 1998-07-11.
- "Ron Lawrence". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
- "Bamboozled (2000)".
- "Founding Fathers: The Untold Story Of Hip Hop [Full Movie]". VannDigital. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
- "Ron Lawrence". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
- "Ron Lawrence". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
- "Above the Sun (2015)".
- "Angel of Light".
- https://rappersiq.com/2016/04/28/commutation-for-guy-fisher-new-doc-on-the-harlem-legend-gfishermusik/
- "Ron Lawrence". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
- "A New Documentary Shows Rap Has Been Around for More Than 70 Years (Video)". 2017-02-22.
- "Ron Lawrence Takes a Quick Look at the Culturally Rich and Diverse History of East Elmhurst, Queens « GRNDGD".
- "Book Store". Ron Lawrence. Retrieved 2019-10-25.
- "Hip-Hop Evolution | Netflix Official Site". www.netflix.com. Retrieved 2019-10-25.
- "Hip-Hop Evolution", Wikipedia, 2019-10-23, retrieved 2019-10-25
- Hip-Hop Evolution: Season 2 | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix, retrieved 2019-10-23