Diggin' in the Crates

Billy Lawrence Wants You To 'Come On'

Harlem  |  03/07/2008 at 3:00 PM  |  Comments (1)

It's Friday, the final day of a very special week of diggin' in the crates. So far, we've unearthed some soundtrack gems from Tammy Lucas (Juice), Caron Wheeler (Mo' Money) and Mona Lisa (Don't Be A Menace...).

Today's artist is Billy Lawrence, who's been in the music industry since 1992. It wasn't, however, until her appearance on the 1996 Set It Off motion picture soundtrack with the cut "Come On" that she truly hit her groove.

The song is classic R&B, with a thumping bassline that pleasingly contrasts Billy's silky soprano. MC Lyte makes an appearance as well, putting the track over the top with her wicked wordplay.

Lawrence, who got her start as a background singer for Jamaican artist Jimmy Cliff, signed with EastWest Records in 1994 and recorded her first LP, One Might Say. After a few singles were released ("Happiness", "Boyfriend"), Billy continued to pay the bills by writing songs for various artists including Mary J. Blige and En Vogue, and singing background for a who's who of the rap community, including Ma$e, Rampage, Chubb Rock and Nas.

Her second album, Paradise, was released in 1997, with "Come On" as the first single. Since then, she's worked on projects for TLC (wrote four songs on Fanmail), Allure (background vocals), Blaque (wrote "Bring It All to Me"), Jennifer Lopez (wrote and sang background vocals on two J. Lo albums) and Mandy Moore.

According to Wikipedia, Billy is chillin' these days, raising a family and giving vocal lessons as a part-time gig. All of that is cool, but if she ever got the itch to record again, all I'd say is this to Ms. Lawrence: Come on.

Billy Lawrence feat. MC Lyte: "Come On"


Billy Lawrence [Wiki]

Tags: audio, billy lawrence, set it off, soundtracks