"The Dana Owens Album" Queen Latifah Universal 2004 Queen Latifah gained a public reputation as a Black radical when Bill Clinton denounced her in his campaign for the presidency. By denouncing Black radicals, Clinton reassured oppressor whites everywhere that he could stand up to Black criticism. This album seems to show the public a different side of Queen Latifah, other than radical whipping-girl. It would be wrong to refer to this as jazz or bluesy jazz music. There seems to be a point in being ultra-retro. This is the old-fashioned crooner's music of the 1920s to 1940s before electricity made much difference. It may come as a shock to hear someone like Queen Latifah pull it off in 2004, but she did. It seems that Queen Latifah is trying to evoke something "classy" from the past while simultaneously casting doubt on the message of current forms of music. We can't deny that her form fits what she's trying to do--reform heterosexual relations. Her first song is about power struggle with a lover. Other songs emphasize the old "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" theme. The demand for good treatment from men is there. At the same time, Queen Latifah provides no insight into the underlying reasons that Black men in particular may not treat their wimmin well or why it may seem that way to Black wimmin. On the question of balance, Queen Latifah steers a firm course for romance culture. Most of the songs such as "simply beautiful" and "if I had you" express a joyous heterosexual passion. Hence, her criticisms of the men in her songs are in a context leaving no doubt that she does want relations with men or at least one man. The problems Queen Latifah has uncovered in romantic relations are real. At the same time, the concerns of adult females about adult males in the imperialist countries and the oppressed Black nation are not a top priority for MIM. We're much more concerned about adult treatments of children and gender relations with more coercive underlying class relations. By staying with the happy heterosexual themes, Queen Latifah missed a chance to move in to more political territory by talking about how gender ratios in the Black nation became so skewed toward females. Hopefully Queen Latifah does not start a trend of ultra-retro music. At the same time, for people who can stand this particular art form, there is no doubting that the music is less decadent than the vast majority of pop music available in the imperialist countries. Buy This CD |