At first, I did not care to watch Queens. There was a lot of promotion via commercials and billboards and I thought to myself, “Oooh, Brandy, Eve, and Naturi are on it,” but that’s about it. I didn’t think about watching it nor was I compelled to. Until I randomly decided to check it out during a binge-watching session. And the funny thing is that I watched 9 episodes in one night and didn’t fall asleep until 3AM because of it. You can say that it’s a testament to how interesting the show is, because I certainly could have lost interest and tuned out after the 1st episode.
Though since I’ve watched all 13 episodes of season 1, it’s a good time to talk about my thoughts on Queens. This time, by explaining everything right and wrong with the show instead of giving a classic review or a “the good, the bad, and the ugly” type of review. I’m excited to talk about it, but first, the show’s synopsis.
What is Queens? Queens is a TV show about a four member hip-hop group that decides to reunite after two decades. In the late 90s, they became famous through their song “Nasty Girl,” and the group was originally called Nasty B****es. However, they changed their name to Queens after reuniting and decided to revamp their image. The four members consist of Jill ‘Da Thrill’ (Naturi Naughton), Naomi ‘Xplicit Lyrics’ (Brandy), Brianna ‘Professor Sex’ (Eve), and Valeria ‘Butter Pecan’ (Nadine Velazquez). The show also stars Taylor Selé as Eric Jones (their producer), Pepi Sonuga as Lauren ‘Lil Muffin’ Rice (rapper who ignited their revival), and Precious Way as Jojo (Naomi’s daughter).
And that’s just a short synopsis. If you’ve already lost interest, then you need to read more of this article. There is a lot of action in the show, and the synopsis alone isn’t enough to explain it. Although, there will be spoilers, so let me insert a spoiler alert right now.
TW: Spoilers of the show are given. Read at your own risk.
Now, let’s kick things off by explaining everything right with Queens.
What’s Right?
Tackles a variety of social issues & discrimination: One of the good things about Queens is that it tackles racism, colorism, misogynoir (misogyny against Black women), and microaggressions. This can be spotted throughout the show with references to Black Lives Matter, police brutality, excessive punishment, and women’s rights. Social justice is an integral part of the show, and that’s not a bad thing.
Valeria is also the target of microaggressions, with Naomi calling her a Cuban even though she’s Puerto Rican, and a White classical musician referring to her as J.Lo while Jojo was auditioning at a music school. Yes, they both qualify as microaggressions, because 1) not every Latino is Cuban or looks like Gloria Estefan (who was mentioned during Naomi’s microaggression), and 2) not every Puerto Rican looks like J.Lo. Microaggressions, regardless of race, are degrading and should not be condoned. On top of that, Resonance (a Boricua* rapper Valeria worked with to connect with her Boricua heritage) stated that she is not a “real Latina” because she doesn’t speak Spanish fluently nor did she grow up in Puerto Rico. That form of identity politics is also toxic, because it makes you question who you are if not of this label that others have grouped you in. Though that is a much longer discussion.
The more blatant forms of discrimination such as colorism and misogynoir were also present. Even though Valeria faced microaggressions, the producers added her to Nasty B****es to make the group more marketable. Keep in mind that it was originally three Black women: Jill, Brianna, and Naomi. Because Valeria was a non-Black, light-skinned Latina, this is truly an example of colorism and misogynoir. For so long, there has been the racist mindset that Black women aren’t marketable or attractive enough for society’s gaze. Even some Black men have the self-hate mentality of Whiteness or Latinidad being more palatable than Blackness. Blackness and Latinidad are treated as mutually exclusive, but they aren’t.
And let’s be real. If Valeria were Afro-Latina, she wouldn’t have even been placed in the group. Given that many folks don’t know about or deny the existence of Afro-Latinos, she would’ve had a much harder time breaking into the music industry. This is not about undermining her experiences, but rather acknowledging that you can have hindrances and privileges in society at the same time. That’s what the concept of ‘intersectionality’ is about.
As for the whole group, they face ageism and incorporate their experiences and beliefs into their music. All the social issues they discuss are very real, which brings realism to the show. It also tackles a child star’s conservatorship, another issue in the entertainment industry. Speaking of the entertainment industry…
Highlights the dark side of the music industry + fame: As many of us know, fame comes with downsides. Millions of people know who you are, all your moves are tracked, your reputation is constantly on the line—there’s a large demand to keep up with your public image. You face admiration and hatred simultaneously. I just mentioned the conservatorship, but Queens also addresses the struggle of obtaining music rights, promoting music, how to handle personal/professional conflicts, and continuing to appear stable even if that stability is a façade. Those struggles happen every day, and the show covered it in a realistic and insightful way.
Becoming a world-famous entertainer is very hard, and even then you do not own much of your work nor make a lot of money. I mean, TLC has a certified-diamond album with CrazySexyCool, and it sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Guess how much they made? For all three members, they earned less than an orthodontist makes in a year: $150,000 total ($50,000 for each member). This was eventually resolved and now they have more music rights, but they are not the only ones to have been underpaid. This is an extremely common phenomenon in major record labels and the music industry in general.
Utilizing famous hip-hop stars: Jadakiss, Remy Ma, Swizz Beatz—recruiting celebrities is a smart way to bring in an audience. Giving them substantial roles in the show instead of just “guest star” appearances is always a good thing. Swizz Beatz makes the original music, Jadakiss plays a character in which he harasses Eric Jones, and Remy Ma plays Zadie ‘Lady Z’, an aspiring rapper who left the music industry due to its toxicity. There’s also the usage of hip-hop and R&B songs that those who listen to R&B and/or Hip-Hop music stations would know. Oh how I wanted to Shazam some of those songs and play them again. I used to listen to R&B radio on car rides as a little girl and enjoyed them…
Compelling plot makes the show addictive: I’ll be honest. The reason I managed to get through the show is because it was really addictive. As I said in the beginning, I could’ve stopped watching it after the 1st episode, but I managed to watch 8 more episodes in one night. And time flew while watching the episodes. I was really into it, looking forward to the plot’s progression despite the chaos of it all. You know how sometimes there’s that one show you keep watching because you want to know what happens and you don’t want to watch anything else at the time? Yeah, that’s my behavior towards this show.
The star power and the cast’s cohesiveness: I think Brandy’s star power contributed to the marketability of this show. Eve also brought a fanbase to the show. The star power of Brandy, Eve, AND Naturi contributed to the show’s publicity, as they have made an impact in the Black community and Black online spaces.
Nadine Velazquez is not a musician, but you may recognize her as Catalina Aruca if you’ve watched My Name Is Earl, a mid-2000s sitcom. The main cast is cohesive, multidimensional, and believable. There are times when the group members support each other and times when they get at each other’s throats (although, Naomi is forever wishy-washy). They look like a group that could gel in real life, which is a bonus.
The things I listed are everything right about the show. But as stated in the title, this is also an article that states everything wrong with the show. Let’s talk about it.
What’s Wrong?
Based on outdated stereotypes: While the plot is very interesting, why is hip-hop pushed as the main thing about Black American people and culture? There is so much more to the Black Americans and the Black diaspora than hip-hop, and I am not fond of how the media has pushed hip-hop as the main element of Blackness. The 90s hip-hop tropes are rather outdated and from today’s standards is high-key cringeworthy. Why can’t Black people play fictional entertainers that are in genres other than hip-hop or R&B? Not that they don’t exist, but come on, Hollywood. Do better.
Also, why is Valeria portrayed as the promiscuous, ditzy Latina? It’s common for Hollyweird (ahem, Hollywood) to portray Latinas this way, and it’s a very dehumanizing trope that needs to retire. Even though she’s unsure of her mom’s identity, why would she confide in a stranger that claims to be her mom without conducting further research? Even if you’re desperate, you’d want to know the truth before gifting a luxury necklace or cleaning a room in your house for a stranger. How would you know that that person is not an impersonator?
She also married a sound engineer after their 1st date, gets butt injections, and serves as the non-Black sidekick for palatability. To me, all of that is honey bunches of “NO.” If you watch this show, you’ll see the prevalence of stereotypes even more. Especially the one about coming from the hood.
Also, why does Jill cheat on her husband before coming out as lesbian? This is such a stereotypical trope of lesbians in the media. She even goes on to cheat on the girlfriend she cheated on her husband with: Tina. The way Jill is portrayed makes you have little sympathy for her, even when her husband crosses the line. Even so, the representation of Jill as a lesbian could have been executed A LOT better and without cheating involved.
Too much reliance on trauma for shock value: Okay. So what happens throughout this show? Let’s start off with what the four women did before reuniting. Valeria was a TV presenter, Naomi played the guitar at venues while being estranged from her daughter, Brianna raised 5 kids while going through marital struggles, and Jill is a devout Christian. Drama can make shows very interesting. However, there comes a time when too much drama becomes a bad thing. Some of the events that happened include but are not limited to the conservatorship, Lil’ Muffin going to rehab, Nasty Girl Records struggling as an independent label, Jill throwing her group members under the bus, the death of Brianna’s husband Jeff, the woman Jeff cheated on Brianna with getting pregnant and leaving town before her abortion appointment—there’s so much drama to it.
The overreliance on stereotypes and drama make for a show that doesn’t stand up on its own aside from the star power. The show covers a lot of social issues, but sometimes it’s better to focus on a few of them than cover them all. I think that’s where the overreliance on trauma stems from. There’s so much reliance on coming off as a “deep and meaningful” show that it tries too hard and botches the art.
Nonsensical sequence of events: There are some parts of the drama that really don’t flow well. I’ve talked about what’s wrong with Valeria’s portrayal enough, and I’m probably getting repetitive at this point. Though I can’t stand how Brianna was supposedly dead without having actually died, despite what the show pushed. Pretty Little Liars-esque s**t at its finest. Now I enjoyed Pretty Little Liars as a young teen and have a poster of it in my room. However, I see that the drastic plot twists are supposed to prolong the show and serve as fillers. I know I said in my Marry Me review that “nOt EvErYtHiNg HaS tO mAkE sEnSe.” And it doesn’t. However, when you make an uber deep show with nonsensical twists, it’s a red flag.
Writing leaves a lot to the imagination: Much of this has been explained over the last three “wrongs.” I get that TV dramas are meant to be sensationalized for ratings and views. However, at what point does it start to become exhausting? I say that if you think about the other sensationalized TV shows out there, it’s pretty exhausting. *sigh* Can these producers come up with something else?
Original songs are very generic: I’ll be honest. The show’s original songs are catchy, but they sound generic and uninspired. You’ll probably be tired of “Nasty Girl” after hearing it for the umpteenth time. Though let’s get this out the way. Brandy is known for being a bona fide singer, and that is no exception here. Naturi also has vocal chops. Highlights from the show’s soundtrack are Brandy’s cover of “Wrecking Ball,” “All Rise,” and Remy Ma’s “Best of Me.” Though for the most part, the original songs are forgettable and not standout amongst today’s mainstream music. It was interesting to watch Brandy rap, though. The rap battles were entertaining, but again, the instrumentals used for them were generic.
Final Verdict: Well, I don’t think I can give Queens a real low rating despite the “wrongs” I listed. Why? Because I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I watched the vast majority of the series in one night and enjoyed every minute of it. I didn’t think to myself, “What else can I watch? I want to watch something else” during the episodes. I have been like that, so the fact that I was interested in Queens throughout is a compliment. If there is nothing else to watch and you’re looking for an interesting drama, this show does its job.
That said, the stereotypes, overreliance on trauma for shock value, subpar writing, and generic original soundtrack decrease the show’s staying power. It will be interesting to see if Queens is renewed for a second season, particularly to expand more on Brianna’s story. (Brianna’s character is less prominent during the second half of the season, because Eve took a maternity leave to birth and mother her 1st child.)
*Boricua is a synonym for Puerto Rican and is based off the word ‘Boriquén,’ which is the Taíno name for Puerto Rico (see Merriam-Webster).
Watch the Queens trailer below.
