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By Julian Haldane
Queen Latifah--Order in the Court (Motown)
It's over four years since the first lady of hip hop graced the microphone
on an album of fresh material. During that time female rappers like Foxy
Brown, Lil' Kim and Missy Elliot have come through to achieve commercial
and artistic success.
Now the Queen is back, and although Order In The Court may not rocket Latifah to the top of the charts, it re-confirms her status as one of the most versatile and sophisticated rappers in the business.
Latifah received mixed reviews for her feisty performance as the lesbian bank-robber Cleo in Set It Off. Since then the Christian rapper has been seen in women's clubs with a sexually ambiguous woman friend and has flirtatiously fielded questions about her sexual orientation. "I don't have any problem with my sexuality, whatever you wanna think I am. I'll never answer the question. I'd rather have you die wanting to know," she commented to The Source earlier this year. "If I wanted to come out...why wouldn't I just say it?" Latifah decided not to include two new tracks on Order In The Court due to their controversial nature. One of them, Get Off Mine, had already added fuel to the sexuality issue through its ambiguous lyrics. What you will find is an album that showcases the Queen's chameleon abilities as both a rap and R&B artist. Latifah has brought together a fresh and talented crew of hip hop and R&B artists to create a subtle, cool record that is as strong and mature as it is sharp and wicked. The Queen explodes into the album in her trademark fierce and direct MC style on the slamming first single Bananas (Who You Gonna Call?), before quickly slipping into something a little more funky on Court Is In Session.
The mood gets mischievously sexy for the next two tracks. Black on BlackLove features smooth male R&B trio Next, who Latifah also manages as Flavor
Unit Entertainment. Flavor Unit manages a select group of talent including
LL Cool J, and now includes Flavor Unit Records, which is distributed
through Motown Records.
Parlay is a stand-out track that calls exciting, young rapper Le Femme Markita to the stand for some deliciously foxy work over a dazed-out, depth-charge track. Latifah's straight-up soprano takes over on Paper, employing the production touch of Pras Michel from the Fugees to flip this interpretation of I Heard It Through The Grapevine on a sunny, yet edgy, psychedelic tip. The flow stays soulful and groovy until Le Femme Markita cuts in again on Brownsville, rolling a rapid-fire, hip hop edge over beats sampled from Malcolm McLaren's World Famous Supreme Team Radio Show. Then, on I Don't Know, the sweet, soulful voice of Dru Hillís Sisqo eases up to the rapping Latifah. Le Femme Markita returns for the deep and luscious Life, and the uplifting vocals of Next are back for the closing track Let Her Live which samples the bright and funky mood of Stevie Wonder.
"Latifah" is Arabic for "delicate and sensitive" and with Order In The
Court the Queen lives up to her name. The album's sophisticated swing may
not rock the charts but it has a lot of different qualities that emerge
throughout its varied musical journey.
Queen Latifah shows no signs of slowing down. The Grammy award-winning 28 year-old rapper, singer, actor, author, executive, artist manager and label president is about to add talk-show host to her astonishing career path. She is also publishing a book on self-esteem and respect, as well as playing a jazz singer in the soon to be released film Living Out Loud. Latifah continues to redefine what a woman in the hip hop arena can and should say and be. Forget Girl Power-Queen Latifah is a one-woman entertainment conglomerate! Courtesy of--Express: New Zealand's Newspaper of Gay Expression: www.gaynz.com/express |
© 1997-99 BEI