Billy Lawrence

Billy Lawrence (born May 3, 1971, in Boca Raton, Florida) is an American R&B/soul singer-songwriter, record producer and arranger.[1]

Billy Lawrence
Born	May 3, 1971 Boca Raton, Florida
Origin	Saint Louis, Missouri, United States
Genres	R&B, soul, hip-hop soul
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter,
Years active	1992–present

Biography

In 1992, Lawrence made her start in the music industry as a background singer for Jamaican singer Jimmy Cliff. Not long after she was signed to Eastwest Records when she recorded her debut One Might Say in 1994.

The album was a mixture of R&B, soul, rock, contemporary jazz, and newjack-hiphop. She was also featured on the song "Freedom" on Mario Van Peebles' Panther soundtrack in 1995.

In 1997, Lawrence had the first single and music video from the platinum soundtrack to the film Set It Off with the song "Come On"[2] that featured rapper MC Lyte. Elektra Entertainment released Lawrence's second album Paradise. She was then featured on label-mate Rampage’s debut single "Take It to the Streets". She went on to tour with Busta Rhymes, Rampage and the Flipmode Squad. She made a cameo on Rampage's video for his second single "We Getz Down" with 702. She also released a non-album track as a maxi-single called "Up & Down" which sampled the disco song "The Glow of Love" by Change featuring Luther Vandross as a second single.

After Paradise, Lawrence was featured on the debut album of rapper Mase, Harlem World which had multi-platinum success. Along with her brother Kyra Lawrence she wrote and sang background on Jennifer Lopez's debut album On the 6. She also wrote and sang background for Mariah Carey’s group Allure. Charli Baltimore recruited Lawrence to be on her debut album Cold as Ice on the song "Pull the Alarm". The album was never released. Lawrence also was at the helm of the album from Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes' group Blaque. In 1999 Hinda Hicks covered Lawrence's "Truly" from her debut album One Might Say, and released it as a single from her album Hinda.

In 1999, Lawrence was recording for her next album Too Many Times for Elektra Entertainment during this time. Too Many Times featured producers Poke & Tone, Trackmasters, Darrell "Delite" Allamby, Dallas Austin, and Organized Noise. Lawrence wrote or co-wrote eight out of the 11 songs. She also produced or co-produced five songs. Lawrence also remade Anita Baker's "Fairy Tales". The album was set for a November release date, but was pushed back until eventually Elektra Entertainment shelved the album due to the previous poor performance of the first two albums.

After leaving the label, Lawrence signed with Epic Records, and she wrote and sung background on two songs for label mate, Mandy Moore on her debut album. Moore's debut single "Candy" had Lawrence on background vocals.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Label	Peak Position
			Billboard Hot 200	Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	Billboard Top Heatseekers
August 16, 1994	One Might Say	EastWest
June 24, 1997	Paradise	EastWest		57
11/??/1999 (Unreleased)	Too Many Times	EastWest

Singles

Year	Song	Peak Position
		Billboard Hot 100	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop	Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
1994	"Happiness"	87	61	One Might Say
	"Boyfriend"
1997	"Come On" (feat. MC Lyte)	44	19	Paradise
	"Up & Down"	92	47
	"Paradise"
2002	"Tell Me" (with Smilez and Southstar)	—	—	Crash the Party
	"Now That You're Gone" (with Smilez and Southstar)	—	—

References

1. "Billy Lawrence". Amazon.com. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
2. "Billy Lawrence Wants You To 'Come On'". SoulBounce. March 7, 2008. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2010.