Pop Music Review : Queen Latifah Lightens Up

Queen Latifah sure has lightened up.

A few years ago, this 23-year-old New Jersey rapper, who performed at the Palace on Thursday, was caught up in being regal and stoically Afrocentric. Her concerts weren’t really fun, but more like classes where fans were instructed, to a hip-hop beat, how to be a good, proud African American.

Now her show really is fun--at the Palace, the Queen was not behaving regally at all. Decked out in baggy overalls, she romped gleefully around stage, egging the crowd to have a good time. On such message-heavy songs as “U.N.I.T.Y” and “Just Another Day” the emphasis wasn’t on the lyrical content but on those ragingly funky beats laid down by her formidable backup band.

Maybe having a second career--starring in the hit TV sitcom “Living Single”--has changed her priorities and loosened her up. But there’s been no change in her rapping skills, which are as sharp as ever.

She always was one of the smoothest, most authoritative rappers around--far superior to all the female competition and better than most of the males. And she hasn’t succumbed to the gangsta-rap lure. She’s still basically a pop rapper, managing to be sexy and maintain street credibility without resorting to vulgarity.

The Solsonics, a mostly instrumental, jazz-oriented band, opened the show with a terrific set, playing rocking jams that were teeming with all sorts of textures--including Latin, funk and soul--in a multitude of combinations.