Queen Latifah: The Dana Owens Album

Interscope Records

Henry Wilkenson

Dana Owens first came to prominence as a Hip-Hop artist. She has gone on to enjoy a very successful acting career and hosted a long running sitcom in addition to hosting a daily talk show. In addition to the above, she is also a successful entrepreneur. If that was not enough, here she is proves to be quite a singer as well.

The Dana Owen album is a well recorded album and features material ranging from the bluesy “Baby Get Lost” to the Mamas and Pappas classic, “California Dreamin”. While the choice of material may be challenging and even quite daring, ‘Dana’ is more than up to the task.

Although I enjoyed the entire album, the following are a few of my favorites. The opening “Baby Get Lost” is a number that has Dana backed by a serious big band with which she fits in comfortably. Her performance not only demonstrates that she is quite capable of dealing with the blues but lead you to believe that she has been singing with big bands for years.

“I Put a Spell on You” is a Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ novelty song that was totally redefined by Nina Simone. Owens takes the song and redefines it yet again. This version is much more sensual, but, at the same time, she is still warning that defiance will not be tolerated.

The album finishes with the oft-performed standards, “If I Had You” and “Lush Life”. Bold choices? Not in the capable hands of Owens. She continues to bring her own style to these songs. The interpretations are fresh and unique. Not an easy thing to pull off. I heard a couple of cuts from this album on the radio a few times before I found out that it was actually Latifah. I purchased the album soon after and have been racking up the mileage on it ever since.

After listening to this album a number of times, I was tempted to make comparisons between Owens and other performers. At first, Dinah Washington came to mind, but no, she doesn’t sound like Dinah. Ella? Well no, not really. I realized that Owen is a true original, which is the same as her many-faceted life. Highly recommended.