Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
While I can’t tell you exactly where I was the first time I saw the video for Queen Latifah’s biggest and most important song, “U.N.I.T.Y.” — video was how I remember learning about most new hip-hop songs in the early ’90s — I do remember feeling like it was a song that was about to matter. For one, Queen Latifah mattered. Queen Latifah was a rapper of note; she was one of the women who rapped and seemed to be universally loved, which was not an easy feat in 1993. But also, the song put everybody who listened on notice. Right after saying “I love a Black man to infinity” all you hear is an aggressive opening bar from Latifah that is both a question and a threat, “Who you callin’ a bitch?!”
It was most certainly not I, Queen.
Aside from a dope beat, produced by Kay Gee of Naughty By Nature fame, the subject matter of “U.N.I.T.Y.,” the first single from Latifah’s third album “Black Reign,” felt necessary. I was 14 at the time and fully enamored with the music from the Death Row camp from the West Coast, which, looking back, was some of the most misogynistic music ever. I knew it was bad then but I can’t even listen to it the same way nowadays. But to hear a song addressing the negativity head on, well, that seemed powerful. Queen Latifah seemed like a woman you did not mess with. And the song wasn’t just for men who put their hands on women or even disrespected women, there was also a verse for the women out there trying to be hardcore and putting themselves in harm’s way. She really covered a lot of ground.
Interestingly, I wouldn’t say that the song, lyrically, is the best set of verses ever, but for a culture that likes to trumpet itself as one that speaks truth to power, “U.N.I.T.Y.” — like songs like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message,” Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” or Tupac’s “Keep Ya Head Up” — is a song whose message and execution gave voice to the lived experiences of so many women. I remember going to school and hearing the words, “Who you callin’ a bitch!” and I don’t even know if it was said in jest or sincerity, but the song became an integral part of hip-hop discussions.
Queen Latifah’s top 5 singing moments
That resonance makes the song still relevant today, in 2023, 30 years after its release in November 1993. The issues the song speaks to haven’t changed and definitely haven’t gotten better. Domestic violence and disrespect towards Black women are still raging conversations in our communities, and especially within hip-hop. The song’s lyrics could easily be transported into the present, released and not miss a single beat from where we are as a society. Sure, social media has replaced the literal streets as the main drag for disrespect but it’s no less destructive. Domestic violence, sadly, is still a constant worry for women, and we’ve seen that play out in hip-hop and our pop culture spaces; just recently, Keke Palmer, a beloved actress and person, filed for custody of her child and a restraining order against her child’s father, Darius Jackson, and provided proof of the violence in video format. The story Latifah tells in the song’s second verse is essentially the Keke Palmer story.
I don’t know if artists realize when they’re making art that will last forever or if they realize the messages will persist. I’m sure that Queen Latifah knew when she was making “U.N.I.T.Y.” that she was making a statement; I wonder if she hoped it would be a statement that didn’t need to be made in 2023. Yet, here we are. Queen Latifah created a song that was necessary for its day, whose message and delivery are important now.
All hail the queen.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest), but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said: “Unknown” (Blackest).
Make sure you check out the Dear Culture podcast every Thursday on theGrio’s Black Podcast Network, where I’ll be hosting some of the Blackest conversations known to humankind. You might not leave the convo with an afro, but you’ll definitely be looking for your Afro Sheen! Listen to Dear Culture on TheGrio’s app; download it here.