Portland observer., July 15, 1998, Page 16, Image 16

Page BX
J U L Y 15, 1998
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ENTERTAINMENT
L a tifa h
She's a television and film ac­
tress. A soon-to-be talk show host.
A label president. An artist man­
ager. An author and an entrepre­
neur. blessed w ith style.substance
and mad skills. Queen l.atfah has
blossomed into a one-woman en­
tertainment conglomerate, heralded
by the press and the industry as a
force to be reckoned with and a
talent to be watched. She has. quite
simply, done it all and shows no
sign o f slow ¡ng down Yet with all
of her accomplishments and all of
her acclaim, it has been a long,
long time since Queen Latifah has
made an album.
Aftermore than four years the
wait is ov er. O rd er In The Court
marks the return of the premiere
female microphone artist and the
maiden release on Queen Latifah’s
own Flavor Unit Records, a label
deal recently inked with Motown
Records.
As far as Queen I atifah is con­
cerned, though she’s about step­
ping back into the arena after a
lengthy hiatus, she is typically con­
fident and self-assured. "It's not
like I haven't been highly visible
since Black Reign (which went
coki ) came out. My name and
image have certainly been out there,
but w hen it comes to being back in
the rap game, well" Queen I atifah
smiles. "I just gotta go get them.
I hat 's my attitude. I he main thing
is that the music is right. And you
know I made sure o f that!"
And then some. Helping l.atfah
'make it right, make it funky and
make it sound so good are an elite
crew of hip hop and R&B artists,
among them Dm Hill, l aith I vans
I’ras (of the I ugeesland Apache. .
who g u ests on the explosive first
single. Bananas." With produc­
tion from Kav (ice. Diamond I).
I ).l (. lark Kent and Q ueen I atifah
herself. O r d e r In I hc (H urt is
more than nisi anothci hip hop a l­
bum il's the strongest album ol
Q ueen I,itil.ill's already im pres­
sive carcci
" I'm really pleased
with this ( I) because it reallv re­
flects
o f Q ueen I atifah. I
hav e a lot o f different qualities on
v a in ms lev els and I hope that people
hearing O rder In The C ourt w ill
pick up o n that.”
I he first peek al one ol Q ueen
I ati lull's di 11 erent qualities is 'B a ­
nanas
\s k I a tila h io describe
the Iras k. w hich die co-w rote, and
she sav s. "It's the professional side
o f the som ew hat hard-core M(
that’s in me Il's an 111-youi lace
k md ol ic i o id I knew that I d id n 't
w ant mv lu st single in all these
v e a is Io som e s.ippv kind oI song,
in si oils i In ng dial vv i mid |iis l go
s i , aic'li, pop
I waul to represent
l o i die lup hop co m m u n ity . In st
a n d I o re most So .' B ananas' is lot
th e m
a n d w h a te v e r a u d ien c es
w iima < ome and nun m on the
p a il, great' But that track is d ed i­
cated to those who truly love Inp
hop " I atifah sm iles "As we go
alone with otlici sineles. it will
give me a chance to display my
versatility.”
Such versatility is evident on
songs like "Paper." which boasts
edgy grooves and sultry singing
from the Queen; the lip smacking
" I urn U On." produced by Chad
"Dr. Cuess” l.lliot & Al W est; the
emotionally direct "l ife." which
deals with the frustrations of day-
to-day life and the need not to give
up hope. “ I mean. Tupac and me
were close and his death and
Biggie's really affected me. I truly
believe that there’s something in
life worth going after, even if it’s
just being on the mike, making a
record.”
M a rc
A true gypsy by lineageand lifestyle,
Mare Antoine is like a musical sponge,
soaking in everything around him atall
times. ‘‘If I’m walking in New York,”
he says, “and I hear a salsa band in a
club nearby, 1 get in that mood and
immediately start thinking o f writing a
tune in that style.” His goal every year
is simply to travel everyw here and
anywhere his w anderlust and muse
take him. For now, that ongoing jour­
ney stops graciously on the spirited,
romantic streets o f M a d rid , his third
and sure to be his biggest recording to
date.
M a d rid is A ntoine’s first release
underthe new joint venture agreement
between the G RP Recording C om ­
pany and NYC Music Group.
A few years ago, based on the ex­
traordinary success o f Antoine's first
two albums Classical Soul and U rb an
Gypsy, leading industry publication
Radio & Records boldly declared that
the guitarist is the “futureofthe format.”
Considering that so much o f w hat we
hear on contemporary jazz radio these
days features Antoine's kind o f cross
cultural infiuences-intertwining tasty
flavormixesofclassical, Latin and Bra­
zilian music with thick, machine gener­
ated urban hip-hop rhythms-sueh a state­
ment seems highly prophetic.
It’s been a few years since his debut
and its hit single “Unity” earned Marc
the distinction o f Contem porary Jazz
Radio's Best New Artist 1995 (and it's
follow up U rb a n G ypsy hit the Top
Ten on Billboard'scontem porary Jazz
Chart in 1996), and now h e’s back with
more exotic traveling-this tim e to
Madrid, the city in which he lives half
the year and where he met his soon-to-
be bride.
The JAZZ Station
FM
Traditional JAZZ
every Saturday & Sunday
at 9 a .m .
with the
Big Band Sounds
on Sunday afternoons
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