THERE was a time when Queen Latifah was best known as a rapper. Since then, she’s become a successful jazz and R&B singer, sitcom actress, film actress, Oscar nominee, author, celebrity spokeswoman and so many other titles that it became easy to forget her roots lay in the hip-hop world. But she hasn’t forgotten.
With her new CD, the hip-hop infused “Persona,” out Tuesday, Queen Latifah takes her music back to where it all started. She took time out from filming her new movie, “Just Wright,” in which she co-stars with Common and a group of NBA players, to talk to The Post about her music.
Why come back to hip-hop?
I never really left it. I just haven’t put a record out like that [recently]. To me, everything I do is just elevating hip-hop that much further. It’s where I started. It’s what’s in my heart. When I got nominated for my Oscar, first thing I said was, “Thank God for hip-hop.” Because if it wasn’t for hip-hop music, I don’t think I’d be where I am today.
how do jazz and hip-hop tie together for you?
Jazz has had a huge influence on hip-hop music. Listen to A Tribe Called Quest record. “UNITY” was sampled from a jazz record, and that was my biggest hip-hop song. The bass and the beat of jazz music, and the horns, have always influenced hip-hop music, so it’s really not that far a stretch. Plus, it’s pure American music. Jazz was created on this land, and so was hip-hop.
Jazz is often referred to as a great American art form. Do you think hip-hop gets the credit it deserves?
No, because it was something we had to really fight for. Initially, nobody said it would last. Then it became controversial because we were speaking and talking about things that went against the establishment. Or because we brought the culture of what was going on in our neighborhoods in the inner cities to the world, and white kids started boppin’ their heads to music made primarily by black people. That’s always been a problem, because of the history of prejudice in our country. That’s not something I think a lot of white parents wanted to see their kids doing.
Has hip-hop helped bridge the racial gap?
In our generation, in the past 20 to 30 years of us developing this music, it has bridged the gap. Like, when I was little, I had a skateboard and my cousin skateboarded, but you would have thought black kids didn’t skateboard or ride BMX bikes. Now to see a bunch of white, black and everything in-between jumping on skateboards and doing tricks is normal, but that’s because we connected ourselves to one another, and haven’t allowed our parents and grandparents, who might be set in their own ways, to affect who we are today. We allow ourselves to be connected through our commonalities, not our differences.
you were going to call this record “All Hail the Queen 2,” as a sequel to the title of your debut. Why’d you go with “Persona” instead?
“Persona” was a better title because as I started to record the album not only was my musical history coming to the table, but my acting was coming to the table. I had these different ideas for myself and [LL] Cool [J] and [Dr.] Dre, who wrote most of the album with me. We would come up with these ideas, and I would imagine different characters and scenarios, and I would channel these different personas into the music.
You came up when gangsta rap was at its peak. You were arrested in the ’90s for assault, weed possession and carrying a loaded .38. How important was it to appear tough?
Being tough was never important to me. Being strong is important to me. Being strong enough to get your point across, to have your own mind and to follow your own path. It’s always something you have to work at, because we’re influenced by so many things around us that you have to strike your own chord. That’s why, on my first album, I wore military clothes and went more Afrocentric. I decided to talk more about what was going on in South Africa or tell ladies that it’s ladies first, and to not allow men to treat ’em any old way. I was raised by a strong mother and father, and that’s what came out at the end of the day.
* “[They also have] wonderful cooked meals, and a fully stocked bar for if you just want to hang out after work.”
* “Riding my bicycle through Manhattan for a change, instead of jumping in a cab or driving, has been fun. I ride a Schwinn beach cruiser, with a bell on it and everything. I never take all of my nice bikes to my movie sets, but I don’t even need ’em. I just like my nice beach cruiser. People get a kick out of watching me ring that bell. They tend to move out of the way.”
* “The electronica group Zero 7 has songs to appeal to every mood I’m in, whether I’m on a treadmill or a flight to London.”
* “I love a vacation on the Jersey Shore. Point Pleasant is a good place to start. I’ve been around the world, but there’s nothing like coming home and going to the Jersey Shore and hanging out, swimming, playing with a beach ball or playing some music.”
* “I always love a good shot of Patrón Añejo. Only the gold, though. Silver might make you get a little too wild.”