"Light" draws Latifah to classic R&B

By Gail Mitchell

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" could double as Queen Latifah's theme song.

The Sarah Vaughan standard -- featured on "Trav'lin Light," Latifah's second album of pop/R&B/jazz staples -- captures the essence of Latifah's multiformat career.

"Trav'lin Light," which Verve released September 25, debuts this week at No. 11 on the Billboard 200, a career best for an artist whose 1989 groundbreaking rap debut, "All Hail the Queen," presaged a Grammy Award for best solo rap performance in 1994.

And the Queen has kept it moving ever since. She has segued into successful stints as an Emmy Award-nominated (HBO's "Life Support") and Academy Award-nominated ("Chicago") actress; a partner with Shakim Compere in New Jersey-based film production company Flavor Unit Entertainment ("Bringing Down the House"); a CoverGirl spokeswoman; author; and philanthropist (the Lancelot H. Owens Scholarship Foundation).

Like 2004's "The Dana Owens Album," "Trav'lin Light" is "half jazz and half more eclectic choices, with a couple more ballady songs," according to Latifah.

But the transition to this type of material from hip-hop wasn't an easy one.

AMERICAN HISTORY

"Working with such respected producers like Arif Mardin and Tommy LiPuma and such amazing musicians as Stevie Wonder, George Duke and Joe Sample has made it easier," she said. "It's like going to history class and actually having fun. These are people who played with or knew artists like Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.