Queen Latifah Album: “Persona”

So many want to be quick to say they want the old Latifah, instead of realizing how much she has grown. This is a woman who can pull off a dramatic role and turn right around and be silly in an off the wall comedy. I can respect that about her. She wants to be relevant to all audiences. The title of the album explains it all. Personally I didn't want to hear the QL of so long ago and was pleasantly surprised by this album. It is definitely underrated. While I have had the album for a few weeks I have only now pulled it out to give it a listen and it is in repeat play mode now. So sad that the world has slept on this.

Ok this is officially my favorite album by Queen. It totally bumped all the others that were my favorite. The other albums now have select tracks that are still favorites but the number one album is this one for me. I'm totally feeling just about every song either through the lyric or the music. I've listened to this CD through to the end over 20 times since I've bought it. I love how open minded this album feels, Queen wasn't afraid to go where her passions took her. Personally she's an awesome pioneer raptress but I'm in love with her voice and want her to sing more. I first fell in love with her voice when she did "Simply Beautiful". Eargasm!!!! Truly addictive, I'm so moved by her evolution on this album its hypnotic...........

Ok I thought I was finished expressing my love. But since I'm listening to the CD right now I thought I might name the tracks that are most moving starting with "Runnin" , well maybe "Long ass week" DAMN I mean, "The world", I'm sorry I mean "Cue the rain" and "People" and "Fast Car".......Do you really want me to go through this??? You get the picture the album is hot and all the tracks are amazing!!!!

Queen Latifah rocks.

She also raps, riffs, and sings like nobody's business.

The idea behind Latifah's new album Persona - to show off her myriad musical abilities - would come off as contrived and gimmicky for nearly any other performer. For the Queen, however, it simply makes sense. Given her incredible talent and gift for seamlessly switching from one genre to another, this seems to be the most natural way to experience her heart and soul. There's no doubt she could put together a more traditional "focused" album - one need only listen to The Dana Owens Album for proof of that - but something about the variance and diversity of Persona makes it feel more real; more like the woman behind it.

Persona opens with The Light, an inspiring song-and-rap track that includes a shout-out to New Jersey- and the big names who got their start there. (Who knew that John Travolta and Shaquille O'Neal came from the Garden State?) The song has a great summer feel, with uplifting beats and a good message that permeates the album, but it's not the strongest track, largely due to the limited lyrics.

Fast Cars more than makes up or it, setting the tone for the rest of the album by raising the level of upbeat self-confidence without crossing over into cockiness; Queen Latifah is a class act on top of her talent. The only downside to this song is the (over)use of some vocal digitalization, which Latifah clearly doesn't need. Fortunately the Auto-Tune ends here, and can even be overlooked on this track thanks in part to a sassy, humor-filled rap injection from by Missy Elliott.

Cue the Rain - the album's first single - is H-O-T. A deep jam with hooks reminiscent of Rihanna and old-school Brandy, this track could easily become the official end-of-summer song; the combination of Latifah's honey-tinged voice and cool club beat guarantee that it will definitely feature in many a gay bar over the next few months.

The club vibe continues with My Couch, a track that combines Latifah's mad vocal skills with her approachable rap style. Dre (from Cool & Dre) makes an appearance in this track, which could have easily gone the way of a handful of recent, horrid "guest vocalist" singles, where singers and rappers vie for the top spot- resulting in a headache inducing verbal battle. Being that this is Queen Latifah, however, her brilliant use of self-restraint (and requiring that of her colleagues) results in a softer, complimentary soul-filled conversation rather than a shouting match turned duel.

Syntho-beats, funky grooves, and a feeling of fun weave their way through the entire album- as do high-profile appearances. Aside from the aforementioned Elliott and Dre, Marsha Ambrosius, Serani, Busta Rhymes, and Shawn Stockman, stop by to add their own twists- and pay homage to the Queen. The two most powerful collaborations, however, are People - which features Jadakiss and (the other queen of R&B) miss Mary J. Blige - and If You Want To, a Pharrell produced track.

Fans looking for the Queen's signature R&B grooves will be more than satisfied with Long Ass Week, a rant-rap session addressing a common frustration in classic Latifah style- strong but not angry; pissy, but focused on the positive. Similarly, If You Want To (produced by Pharrell Williams, featuring Serani, and alternatively referred to as "If You Wanna" and "If You Want") blends her smooth vocals with a reggae feel that helped it to instantly declare itself the official "chill track" for summer nights.

One of the final songs, Champion should be required listening for young gay kids everywhere, injecting a positive message of self-love (not that kind) and confidence into a catchy lick and strong hook. It's also a perfect segue to the track that closes the album (mine at least); Be Yourself promotes a beautiful message of being proud of who you are and reaching for the stars- because with a strong vision and a lot of hard work, anyone can achieve their dreams.

Queen Latifah would know.

Note: as with most albums released today, there are various versions of Persona available; the number of tracks, their order, and bonus tracks will differ - sometimes greatly - among them. This review was based on the "Bonus Track Version" available through iTunes, which also offers a regular album version, similar to the standard album available in stores and at Amazon.com

I listen to Queen Latifah new cd last night. I really did enjoy all the songs that are on this cd. She allows us to see all the music style. My favorite songs is number 11. I give this cd a five star.

This is not a good album at all. I bought this album because the cover looks so intriguing, and it's Queen Latifah, hello?. With an album titled "Persona" anyone would believe that the queen would be tapping into a multitude of genre's and sounds on this release to express different sides of herself. The artwork is just a prop and has nothing to do with what's going on, on this CD. I thought any artist that's an actress that's been in some good films from "set It Off" to stuff to "Chicago", and has had her share of good HipHop and Jazz albums (Which are on two totally different spectrums) would have enough exposure and experience in her life to deliver something incredible. I mean, why not? She's proved what she can do already, and she's capable. So why not go above and beyond. From the looks of the image this looks to be a big album, but it isn't that at all. It's just a photo.

Take a look at the album cover. What do you see? I see festivity, I see life, I see a rainbow. Is the image that we're seeing for this same CD, or was there a mix up? The beats are all artificial and hollow. "Persona" beholds The latest sounds of Pop or RnB music 9The worst of it's kind I might add) with it's NEW synthetic hiphop taps & drums that are featured on most Pop or RnB records today. Keyboard music at it's best. It's a trend, It's what's "in" for "right now". In about 5 years from now you'll play this album and know exactly what year it came out because of the beats.

However "I do" happen to like two songs from the album. Those are "Take Me Away" and "With You". They're the most festive songs of the bunch. "Take Me Away" crossfades into "With You", The rest of this collection is not interesting at all. It's just poor production straight through, From start to finish.

I now understand that "Persona" is not to be taken seriously. I believe Queen Latifah was just having some fun, Perhaps, to take her mind off some things, but this is a review and I just can not get into this CD.

I think QL's next step should've been a dance oriented album that showcases some of her vocal talent. More songs similar to what "With You" sounds like or even an updated House music sound, like what Robin S., Crystal Waters and Cece Peniston did but to the 2nd power. She could've brought that back and even did a rendition of her own song "Come Into My House" as a bonus track. It fits her, She just doesn't cut it singing the conventional HipHop or RnB styled songs. She's at her best when she does the alternative as a singing artist.

With all that technology these producers have in the studio today, there's absolutely NO excuse why we're not getting fabulous music by now. It's 2009, they can make anyone a star with the equipment that's available. There's no reason why the artists that are actually talented can't be made even better than what they are. It's not like she'd even have to work that hard. She's already good, or was.

Well, a star for each great song.