Queen Latifah: Continuing Activism Through Hip-Hop

George Lipsitz article, Diasporic Noise: History, Hip-Hop, and the Post Colonial Politics of Sound, opens by discussing hip-hop artist Queen Latifah and the music video for her 1989 song "Ladies Choice." Lipsitz details that the music video uses hip-hop as a means of portraying positive images of African American women, in a society where hip-hop and rap videos consistently objectify women and portray them in negative ways.

Queen Latifah's use of her music as a form of activism didn't stop in 1989. In 1993 Latifah's song U.N.I.T.Y addressed the issue a women being referred to in derogatory terms. The song made a statement in the hip-hop community and won her a grammy:

Latifah has spoken out about the use of such negative language in hip-hop music, and the

messages it is sending to it's listeners. Latifah states, "When you get used to hearing the clean version of a song in the clubs or on the radio all the time, then you hear the explicit version, it's almost shocking, and it's really not very creative," she says. "It's like, 'If you could clean up this record and make it sound this good, why did you ever need to make it like that?" Latifah has also stated that it is up to artists in the hip-hop industry to make a change stating, "I think it is about time that we started policing ourselves, encouraging at least, ourselves to kind of clean certain songs up because it's just not necessary."

Throughout her career Latifah has continued to be an activist and use her influence in the industry to make positive changes. She's also heavily involved in charity work and giving back, especially to third world countries in Africa. Just this week Latifah helped to host American Idol's: Idol Gives Back, which raised over 15 million dollars for African charities dealing with aids, malaria, and women's education.