HEADPHONE MASTERPIECES
Despite the fact that more than three decades have passed since that day, the memory of my first time seeing Queen Latifah on TV still stands out in my mind vividly. I was nine years old, cross-legged in my living room one evening watching BET when the video for “Ladies First” came on. The video opens with snapshots of Harriet Tubman, Angela Davis, Winnie Mandela, Madame C.J. Walker and the abolitionist Sojourner Truth. Immediately following these archival images, Latifah appears, dressed in paramilitary gear and flanked by her two dancers, the Safari Sisters. Despite being very young, the message was clear to me: by visually appropriating the images of these women, Queen Latifah was positioning herself as the latest step in a long line of Black women revolutionaries. Backed by DJ Mark “The 45 King” James’ scorching, uptempo track, Latifah came in like a bolt of lightning with nimble rhymes that celebrated the power of womanhood in a hip hop context.
The ladies will kick it, the rhyme that is wicked
Those that don’t know how to be pros get evicted
A woman can bear you, break you, take you
Now it’s time to rhyme, can you relate to
A sister dope enough to make you holler and scream
After about six bars, Latifah’s partner in rhyme, Monie Love, jumped in, grabbed the mic and took over. While Latifah appeared regal, dignified and fierce, like a grown-up warrior queen, Monie looked different to my young eyes. She appeared younger (although later I’d discover that the two were the same age), her playful disposition striking a colorful contrast to
