Disco de Queen Latifah: “Order in the Court”

"Order In The Court" is another Latifah Masterpiece. The album is a bit different than her past 3 rap albums.

A. She sings a lot more

B. There are a lot of samples From Cherelle, Isley Brothers, Sade, ETC.

My take on some tracks

1. It's Alright - A classic track, where QL Sings about feeling safe with her lover, written by Faith Evans, sampling the Alicia meyer's Classic "I want to thank you". Also, From The

soundtrack. On the album Version, Lil' Mo replaces Evans' background vocals. While, either way it's a great song, Evans provided much better background vocals for the soundtrack. Should have kept it that way

2. let Her live [Featuring Next] (Japan/France Bonus Track) - A classic which samples "That Girl" By Stevie Wonder. A mistake removing the track from America. While a hot track, it's kind of conceited. Latifah raps about how hot she is, as Next's chorus, based on Wonder's lyrics go "That girl know that she so hot, that she can blow ya spot"

3. Life- A classic rap about Life's struggles over a sample of a looped portion of "You're not the man" By Sade - The Best Track on the album

4. Keep Your Head to the sky (Japan Bonus Track) - An inspirational rap over a sample of "Saturday Love" By Cherelle. A Mistake removing it from America because it's the second best track on the album.

5. No/Yes - A classic rap about whether or not to have sex over a sample of "passion Play" By The Sugarhill Gang

6. Turn you on - Pretty Much A hot rap remake of "I didn't mean to turn you on" By Cherelle. Also samples the song. Latifah's rap pretty much stay true to the meaning of Cherelle's original.

7. Bananas (Who you gonna call?) - Latifah's on fire and ready to fight! She's lyrically crushing her competition in this song.

While it's a 5 star album, it doesn't top 1993's

, her best rap release, in my opinion. A must own for Latifah fans.

If it's order she wants, then it is order she'll have. This experimental release from Queen Latifah deals with matters ranging from God to money and power to sex. It's a more mature album showcasing Queen's singing ability which is something that might become more dominant in her career and shows her growth as an artist in general.

Everything about this album, from the photagraphy which is awesome, to the lyrics which bridge early 90's Hip Hop with the more recent, down to the production is very well done. This is not for your average shoot-em-up Hip Hop heads, but for those who understand that in order to grow as an artist, one must try new things to see how it fits.

The Rap tracks, of which there are few, are strong. Especially "Bananas (Who You Gonna Call?)" which is supported by one of the baddest beats I've ever heard. The R&B songs tend to get soulful which is something that I don't think she should have played with too much, but she gave an overall great performance on each. "Paper" samples the classic Marvin Gaye track "I heard It Through The Grapevine" and is expertly re-mixed by Wyclef Jean who lends his vocals sutbly throughout the track. The vocals on this track tend to be playful yet authoritative, letting you know sweetly that if you try to take her 'paper' that certain things will happen... we will not go into detail on that one. "It's Alright" is another of the standout tracks on the album on which Queen sings. A very melodic track kind of sunsual but very good to listen to.

Best tracks (to me) are:

Basically, Queen Latifah stepped out of the box on this one. A highly commendable record.

The few rappers still talking about something, Queen Latifah reclaims her throne on Order In The Court. Complete with the "I Heard it Through The Grapevine" sampled "Paper" and "Bananas(Who You Gonna Call)"... While this album pretty much went unnoticed, it just proves that hip hop fans just don't have a taste for black reign anymore. We eagerly await a new album.

You've seen her as Cleo in the hit movie, "Set It Off," Kadijah on Living Single, but can she still rhyme? The answer is a resounding "yes."

On her third album since her Gold sophmore smash "Black Reign", "Order In The Court" continues you bring you the trunk funk, and she brings the rawest rhymes since her debut album "All Hail The Queen."

My favorite jewels on this album are the apocalyptic "Bananas (Who You Gonna Call?)" (featuring Apache) where she releases fury and lets all the MCs in the Rap Game know that "court is in session" and the Queen is back. Some tight rhymes on "Bananas..." are "I'm telling you straight up/ All you sleeping beauties better wake up/ I'll tear your state up/ So set the date up." Also other hot tracks are "Court Is In Session" which she flows with incredible swiftness and precision like a boxer with rhymes like "Some of yall emcees in hip hop/ Just making the game crowded/ Let's play a game of elimination, or detonation/ Seperate the wack like segregation." and "Paper" where she makes a funky hip-hop version of Marvin Gaye's classic "Heard It Through The Grapevine."

Queen Latifah brings back her soulful style of R&B with tracks like "No/Yes" where she ponders whether she should have sex or stay celibate. "Turn You On" where she disenfranchises a "playa," "Black On Black Love (featuring Next and Antonique Smith)", the beautifully mellow "What Ya Gonna Do (featuring Inaya Fafan)" the definite club hit "It's Alright" co-written by Bad Boy diva Faith Evans. "I Don't Know (featuring Sisqo)" and the exodus of "Life."

This album is definitely an endless groove and you can bump this in your car or if your "Parlayin'" at home. There is no question, The Queen is back!

I also recommend Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope.

This time around Latifah is as hot as ever in terms of lyrical prowess.The fault lays with the music.Side A of this cassette is great but some of the tracks on Side B however are from fair to good.The production was lacking some.This is most evident on the track 12 "I DON'T KNOW",where the music is weak and lyrics are good but are way too soft.If the music had been produced to fit the song perfectly[smoother pure r&b backing music],then the results would have been excellent instead of merely good. The excellent tracks are:#'s 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,and 11.Give this set a chance like I did because you will enjoy it. ALSO, she is working on her new LP. It is supposed to be great. BUY IT when it comes out.SIGNED 17 YEAR OLD MUSIC FAN.