Did ne of u get it yet?

paisleypark4 said:

I'm going to go get it soon. I've been seeing the commercials for it on TV. Sounds good.

Tracklisting:
1. Baby Get Lost
2. I Put a Spell on You
3. Simply Beautiful
4. The Same Love That Made Me Laugh
5. Moody's Mood for Love
6. Close Your Eyes
7. California Dreamin'
8. Hard Times
9. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
10. Hello Stranger
11. If I Had You
12. Lush Life

Check out the tracks:

Hello Stranger
California Dreamin'
Lush Life
Baby, Get Lost

I am amazed at Queen Latifah's versatility.

JANFAN4L said:

Will Du

C grade from EW

Tessa said:

and though i haven't heard it, and don't know if their grade is right, they ARE correct in their assessment that she's overexposed in a lot of cheap ways at the moment. crappy movies. crappy commercials. etc...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/.../newsweek/ <---Go to this link to watch her perform "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" and "Baby Get Lost" on NBC's TODAY.

God Save the Queen
Latifah takes a risky leap into smoky jazz standards
By Lorraine Ali
Newsweek

Oct. 4 issue - Back in 1993, rap icon Queen Latifah challenged the growing misogyny of hip-hop by demanding, "Who you calling a bitch!?" in her hit single "U.N.I.T.Y." The music she loved was changing, and so was she. Now you can call the 34-year-old just about anything—sitcom star, talk-show host, entrepreneur, Oscar-nominated actor. Well, anything but a rapper. On her first album in six years, Latifah trades her hip-hop moniker for her given name, Dana Owens. Even stranger, she swaps her rapid-fire raps for crooning.

Anyone who saw Latifah as Mama Morton in "Chicago" knows that the New Jersey native can sing. But this record, a collection of standards such as "I Put a Spell on You" and "Hello Stranger," is still a potentially humiliating move—even for somebody who sang a duet with Rod Stewart not so long ago. On "The Dana Owens Album" she lights up decades-old songs and makes them her own. Her voice is so smooth, deep and steady, you get the feeling she could sing most of this stuff in her sleep. But Owens's saving grace is always her passion. On Dinah Washington's '40s hit "Baby Get Lost," she's a sassy seductress fronting a big band: you can practically see the smoke and red lipstick. On Al Green's R&B ballad "Simply Beautiful," every groove is filled with emotion, be it dewy-eyed love or after-hours lust. (Green actually joins her on the song and their harmonies make this one of the album's best tracks.)

"The Dana Owens Album" has its corny moments, where she actually sounds like an actress pretending to be a singer, but they're too benign to spoil the easy-go-lucky mood. At worst, the stylistic jumps from track to track start to grate on your nerves a little. The songs career from big-band numbers to sugary '50s ballads to (the weirdest choice here) the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin'." Owens tries to turn the hippie anthem into a low-key jazz tune but the song's still steeped in patchouli and flowing with gauze.

It's unlikely that the hip-hop world will follow Queen Latifah on her newest venture. Too many years have passed and they know her as an icon and an actor, not as a rapper. That's likely fine with Latifah. She is, after all, the Queen of Reinvention.
© 2004 Newsweek, Inc.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/.../newsweek/

JANFAN4L said:[quote]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6098621/site/newsweek/

That's likely fine with Latifah. She is, after all, the Queen of Reinvention.
.....waiting for the Esther brigade to chime in on this one.....

I think Queen Latifah has a great voice but the music just feels forced. I think these collections of classics by modern artists sound really good on paper but never really sound so great on my stereo. I might check it out though. I'm going to go broke!

Much respect to queen Latifah for doing her thang and branching out in different areas.. Although I dont think she has the vocal prowess to do these songs. I mean to call it a jazz album is a joke to me. Still, you gotta love her for doing what so many others artists should be doing!!

I have heard it and I will buy it and enjoy it for what it is.. I have to give my support for someone who is willing to grow and mature.

Big Up's to you Queen La
[Edited 9/29/04 6:00am]

I feel a vocal/singing album for La is long over due.....I remember back in the days she was on Whoopi's short lived talk show singing "Betcha by golly wow" and just sang it so graciously.....