Songoftheday 3/3/19 - Instinct leads me to another flow, Everytime I hear a brother call a girl a bitch or a ho...
from the album Black Reign (1993)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #23 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 11
Today's song of the day comes from rap royalty Dana Owens, better known as Queen Latifah, who came from the streets of East Orange, New Jersey. With her nickname taken from an Arabic term for "kind", she was first noticed by MTV Raps star Fab 5 Freddy, who brought her to the attention of Tommy Boy Records' Dante Ross, who help her to get signed to the label at the end of the 1980s. She released her debut album All Hail The Queen in 1989, and the second single from the set, "Dance For Me", appeared on Billboard magazine's Rap Singles chart at #14. But her exposure on Yo MTV Raps!, with her image distinct from dressing like an African warlord, made her memorable, so by the next single, "Ladies First" featuring Monie Love (who had already scored a top-40 hit with "It's A Shame"), she even got more MTV play, while the single made it to #64 on the R&B chart and got into the top-40 on the Dance Club Play list, and #5 on the Rap Singles chart. That was followed by Latifah's foray into true house music with "Come Into My House", which became her first top ten dance club play hit at #7, while peaking at #81 on the R&B list. At that same time she guested on a rework of David Bowie's "Fame" called "Fame '90", which went to #6 on the dance chart in America, while hitting #28 in the UK. Lastly, the track "Mama Gave Birth To The Soul Children" featuring De La Soul was a minor club hit at #28, while becoming Latifah's first lead artist top-40 hit at 14. All Hail The Queen remains a cornerstone of Hip-hop and rap, with its reputation far outlasting its sales. You are missing out if you haven't heard the whole thing.
With all the buzz from that debut record, Latifah returned in 1991 first with a guest spot on a collaboration with New Jack Swing groups Troop and Levert on the medley "For The Love Of Money/Living For The City" from the movie New Jack City, which made it to #12 on the R&B chart. Later that year, Latifah released her sophomore effort Nature Of A Sista. The lead single, "Fly Girl", landed her into the R&B top-40 for the first time at #16. It also scored her a top-40 hit in New Zealand at #38, and a minor hit in Britain at #67. Also, "How Do I Love Thee" went to #19 on the Dance Club Play chart, her most recent appearance there.
But it would be the Queen's third release that would bring Latifah her biggest success. Black Reign, released in 1993, was preceded the week before by the single "U.N.I.T.Y.". Written by Latifah with labelmate Kay Gee from Naughty By Nature, and framed around a jazzy sample from the Crusaders, the treatise on the state of women in the hip-hop community, and cities in general, was universal enough to carry over to pop radio as well, even though she pulled no punches. Who're you calling a bitch, indeed (the way she throws that line is just as angry and powerful as LL Cool J's on "Mama Said Knock You Out").
"U.N.I.T.Y." became Latifah's biggest hit, and her sole top-40 pop hit in January of 1994. The song also landed the Queen her only top ten R&B hit at #7, while climbing to #2 on their Rap Singles chart. Internationally, the record was a minor hit in the UK at #74. At the following year's Grammy Awards, "U.N.I.T.Y." won Rap Solo Performance of the Year, the first for a woman. Her follow-up single, "Just Another Day", reached #37 on the R&B chart, but stalled in the lower half of the pop chart at #54. Next was a double-"A"-sided single, with "Black Hand Side" getting to #48 on the R&B chart and #20 on the Rap Singles list, and "Weekend Love" peaking at #29 on that R&B list and #70 on the pop Hot 100. That latter song also hit the Top-40 in New Zealand at #38.
Despite the success of the record, Latifah didn't return to music until 1997, when "It's Alright" from the Martin Lawrence comedy Nothing To Lose, hit #31 R&B, and #76 on the pop Hot 100. That track led to her fourth studio record, Order In The Court, which sported a #50 pop/#23 R&B hit "Paper". But by this time, her focus was on movies and television. Her role in the film adaptation of the musical Chicago in 2002 earned Latifah an Oscar Nomination for Best Supporting Actress (which she lost to co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones. She also starred in the long-running TV sitcom Living Single. In 2013, she ran a talk show in her own name that lasted for two seasons. Continuing to release music in all different genres, her most recent studio set Persona appeared in 2009.
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Here's Queen Latifah appearing live on Soul Train...
And next up is live in concert in 1993 at the House of Blues...
And finally, the Queen at the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Concert...
Up tomorrow: Gamey rapper rolls out his urban flow.
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