# Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence

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

## Early life

Lawrence was born on the island of Dominica. In 1970, his family immigrated to the United States, settling in East Elmhurst, Queens, in New York City. After high school, he attended Howard University.
In college he met Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, and formed the rap duo Two Kings in a Cipher, which released the album From Pyramids to Projects. Later, the duo joined the Bad Boy Entertainment production team called "The Hitmen", with fellow Howard University alumnus Sean "Diddy" Combs.

## Music career

The Hit Men produced numerous rap and R&B hits of prominent radio play. He is best known for the singles "Hypnotize" by The Notorious B.I.G, "Been Around The World" by Sean "Diddy" Combs, "Where I'm From" by Jay-Z, "Money, Power, Respect" by The Lox, the Grammy-nominated "Love Like This" as well as "All Night Long" by Faith Evans, "Phenomenon" by LL Cool J, "You Should Be Mine" by Brian McKnight, "Can't Let Her Go" by Boyz II Men, "Cold Rock a Party" remix by MC Lyte, and "The Theme (It's Party Time)" by Tracey Lee. He produced the song "Wonderful" for Aretha Franklin for her album So Damn Happy. On June 23, 1998, Lawrence received a Governors Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences on. 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, 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, a documentary on hip hop's birth and evolution.
In 2014, Lawrence started a film production company Spotlyte Media. In 2015, he produced and edited the short film Above the Sun. In 2016, he wrote, directed and produced the short film, Angel of Light and the documentary Commutation for Guy Fisher. In 2017, he produced, directed and edited the documentary Rap Dimension, and Rolling Stone published Jay-Z's 50 greatest songs with Lawrence's production coming at number one.
In 2018, he produced and edited the webisode series "Diary of a Music Producer". In 2019, Lawrence published his autobiography 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 episode 2 which is titled Life After Death, 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 |
| 1994 | 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 | You Should Be Mine (Don't Waste Your Time) | |
| 1997 | Notorious B.I.G. | Hypnotize | Life After Death |
| 1997 | Tracey Lee | The Theme (Keep Your Hands High); Big Will; Clue (Who Shot J.R.?) | Many Faces |
| 1997 | Puff Daddy | Big Ole Butt | In the Beginning... There Was Rap |
| 1997 | Boyz II Men | Can't Let Her Go | Evolution |
| 1997 | Puff Daddy (+ Family) | Been Around the World; Don't Stop What; I Love You Baby (feat. Black Rob) | No Way Out |
| 1997 | LSG | You Got Me | LSG |
| 1997 | LL Cool J | Phenomenon; Hot Hot Hot | Phenomenon |
| 1997 | Mase | Do You Wanna Get Money?; Will They Die 4 U?; Wanna Hurt Ma$e? | Harlem World |
| 1997 | Jay-Z | I Know What Girls Like; Where I'm From | In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 |
| 1998 | The Lox | Money, Power, Respect; So Right | Money, Power, Respect |
| 1998 | MC Lyte | Woo Woo (Freak Out) | Woo (soundtrack) |
| 1998 | MC Lyte | Oogie Boogie | Seven & 7 |
| 1998 | All City | The Hot Joint | Metropolitan |
| 1998 | Tyrese | You Get Yours | Tyrese |
| 1998 | Faith Evans | Love Like This; All Night Long; Life Will Pass You By | Keep the Faith |
| 1998 | Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz | My Time to Go | Make It Reign |
| 1998 | R. Kelly | Spendin' Money | R. |
| 1998 | System of a Down, Boys | Will They Die 4 U? | Chef Aid: Soundtrack |
| 1999 | The Madd Rapper | They Just Don't Know | Tell 'Em Why U Madd |
| 1999 | Terror Squad | In for Life | Terror Squad: the Album |
| 1999 | Rakim | Uplift; Real Shit | The Master |
| 1999 | Mase | Stay Out of My Way | Double Up |
| 2000 | Mau Maus | Blak Iz Blak | Bamboozled (soundtrack) |
| 2000 | Carl Thomas | Cold Cold World | Carl Thomas |
| 2001 | Mary J. Blige | Love | No More Drama |
| 2001 | G Dep | Everyday | Child of the Ghetto |
| 2001 | Jimmy Cozier | No More Playing Games | Jimmy Cozier |
| 2001 | Luther Vandross | How Do I Tell Her | Luther Vandross |
| 2002 | LL Cool J | Throw Ya L's Up; 10 Million Stars | 10 |
| 2002 | Blu Cantrell & Lady May | Round Up | Bittersweet |
| 2003 | Aretha Franklin | Wonderful | So Damn Happy |