All Hail the Queen

Fun, old-school hip-hop with an impressive mix of styles including house music and reggae. Some cool jazzy samples too. The production is excellent although the style sounds dated now. I’m glad I listened to this though. I’d never actually heard Queen Latifah’s music before today. She’s a very good performer and a good lyricist. (Some lyrics were a little repetitive; I heard a few lines on more than one track.)

Fun, groovy, new jack swing type hip hop. I always thought Queen Latifah was a cool act and it's nice to see her pop up on this list. The downside to this album is that it's not dimensional enough. I think while listening I keep thinking "I want more", "I want something different". It's all mid tempo / or mid to high up tempo hip hop. I counted about 8 out of 15 that are specifically around 130-150bpm, and then the remaining tracks are all around 100bpm. So it does those two tempo "windows" and doesn't deviate too much from there... and when it does, it's not big stylistic changes, although when it did deviate I appreciated it a lot, like the awesome sax/reed sound on "Latifah's Law". Overall it's a 3/5 for me.

Not a bad sound. Standouts include Dance With Me, Latifah's Law, and Wrath Of The People.

A solid, fun album. Great beats and grooves. Definitely will keep around for functions.

um gostinho datado, mas eh bom

Tof rap-album. Duidelijke boodschap, en niet al te agressief.

Man, finding flow this fucking good from 80s rap doesn't feel like an easy task

Listened at the gym and waiting for the Euro Hurdles so it kind of became background music at points. That being said, the beats were really fun, they had lot of similarities so that probably didn’t help with the background music effect. I think the actual lyricism and rapping is definitely dated as well, some of the off beat stuff didn’t help with the freestyle-vibe that the songs gave off at points. Got to give the Queen her props for the impact she had on the scene especially as a female during that time period. Even if the album is dated it’s on the list for a good reason.

most of the beats are very similar. I'm sure I'm not the first to ask, but how many rappers have gone into acting and decided to go back to rapping?

Some decent tracks here, some utterly terrible production choices. Who on earth in that studio on that day thought "Yeah, let's pitch-shift and pretend that it's a child's voice. That's a great idea and people will enjoy listening to it!". Big up to her for doing what she did, and her flow is great, but it is important as a historical piece - an archeological find - rather than a going concern that will continue to find new audiences.

The first famous MC during the golden age, and she's not afraid to show this, taking pride in her work and rapping about feminism and Afrocentrism. Just like other Native Tongues of the time, it's chill and fun with simple, recognizable samples, with many disco tracks to dance to. "Mama Gave Birth" is a wacky collab with De La Soul, certainly my highlight but has an annoying repetitive ending. First side is pretty strong, but dropped a bit in the second half. I don't know why we needed two reggae tracks, but they're chill. Favorites: Mama Gave Birth, Come Into My House, Ladies First

Yea it’s fine, standard rating. Very of it’s time

Fun late eighties rap with it’s share of goofy musical choices

Simpatico.

Latifah is utterly charming throughout, a really engaging performer dropping decent rhymes. The album absolutely pulses whenever DJ Mark the 45 King and Prince Paul are on the boards, dropping classic samples and beats. The drawbacks - inclusion of fashionable house track (a thankfully short lived phase in hip hop), some sub par guest lyricists in Quasar, Daddy-O and DJ Mark (no rapper, he). Overall, more good than bad and a noteworthy album.

This is quite a standard BoomBap Hip-Hop album. Nothing Crazy about it but I enjoyed it. Favorite Tracks : Ladies First Rating : 3.25 / 5

Definitely a fire hip hop album, love the listening and discovery from start to finish. I did not know it was her debut album and I love the ego in it, even though sometimes might get repetitive between songs. SOLID 3.5/5

Proper Hip-Hop, bit samey

I struggled to get past hearing this as a novelty music or something very dated.

Sounds very dated now and very samey. I admire her for smashing down a few boundaries and a glass ceiling or two. Good melding of samples, hip hop, house and jazz. But it did all just blur into one repetitive jam for me. It would be a 2.5 but more power to her elbow for breaking a few conventions and blazing a trail for female rappers.

Solid.

This album had lots of promise — beats were flying, Queen Latifah was flexing, sounding confident and excited. And she exudes confidence, but this album had one single theme throughout — how hard she's gonna flow — and that sums up the entire album. Big on attitude, but I only heard one idea. The 45 King produced it. They'll tell you all about it, just listen to tracks 1, and 2, and 3, and 4...

It can be a bit of a struggle for me to rate stuff like this, because to me, it sounds pretty dated. There are some really good beats on this, for sure. I really liked the more reggae tinged numbers.

It's a little tame for my liking. Many of the beats are excellent even though they feel dated. It doesn't feel timeless like NWA's Straight Outta Compton for example.

3.6 - I agree with the gripes that this record is long and somewhat repetitive but I ended up liking this much more than I expected. In particular, the broad array of samples from jazz, R&B, television, film and other sources, give a meticulous sheen to the production. I also appreciate Queen Latifah's charismatic and confident persona that gives the overall project a strong backbone. Standouts: "Ladies First", "Evil that Men Do", "Come into My House."

Didn't mind this, reminded me a lot of Run DMC, similar flow but with slightly better lyrics. Preferred the songs with latifah only, tended to have better beats and strayed less into r and b territory. Suffers from the same thing as many rap albums of this era, constant bragging with almost no other content. Overall it was okay.

Not sure about this. I really only disliked Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children, mainly because of the high-pitched voice. The better songs, Latifah's Law, Princess of the Possee, Ladies First, were pretty good - but I'm not going back.

This album definitely sounds like it's from the 80s/90s which makes it feel quite dated. I thought it was okay as she is quite a good rapper but I wouldn't listen to it again. Highlights: Dance for Me Latifah's Law Ladies First

its a decent record but one that also helped shape a chunk of hiphop

I prefer Motormouth Maybelle from Hairspray Queen Latifah but this is certainly a fun beat.

Old school and upbeat hip hop for the ladies. She is a talented queen and raps her name about 5000 times. L-A-T-I-F-A-H

Of its time but interesting to see the more traditional feminism in the lyrics of its era

AJ: I’d never heard this boss rap! Great music. Cool as hell. Dance to the music.

Hip hop old school de la ma d'una de les primeres badass del génere, que va obrir portes a moltes formacions femenines la década posterior. Més enllà del sexe de l'intèrpret i de les seves rimes feministes, el disc sona com un potent representant d'aquella generació de discos rap de finals dels '80. Un dels millors de la fornada. I temes com 'The Pros' i 'Wrath of My Madness' sonen igual de bé ara que aleshores

Mandatory comment about not liking the genre, followed by an appreciative note about how smooth the Queen is.

This is only enjoyable in small dozes. She's definitely fire, but only for a quick listen.

It’s ok but not for me

A solid debut from Queen Latifah. A bunch of guest producers and performers (DJ Mark The 45 King, De La Soul, Prince Paul, KRS-One, Monie Love, Daddy-O and more) are also along for the ride, and between them all, they keep things interesting. Samples are nice, and raps are also generally good. This was a lot of fun if a bit slight overall.

at first i was like no... but then it sounded ok after a while.

Ladies is a top tune, but mostly a repetitive album

There are some really fun highlights in here. Some very, very funky beats that had me locked in (Come Into my House, Latifah's Law), but everything after Ladies First pretty much all ran together for me. Favorite track: Come Into My House

Heard it before?: No Enjoy it?: Yes, she has an effortless flow that’s so enjoyable Favourite song: Track 1 - Dance For Me

1989! Sound more modern for 1989. Nice Jazzy and Funky version of the more rebellious old school rap like NWA, PE, Ice Cube. And sometimes was thinking of Neneh Cherry's cheerful stuff. Am more into the heavier stuff, so 3 stars only, but was good to get to know this Royal Highness

Diametrically opposite to me. Doesn't make it bad, in fact it's pretty good for what it is. Clean 80's rap. I'm not sure just how derivative it is but it was what it was at the time.

I wanted to love this, because Queen Latifah! Women in hip hop! Her message in this album and in life is great and I love her as a person. But I just couldn't get past how dated the sound of this late 80s rap album is. I think I liked it at the time? Now I can't get into it. Very much a product of its time. But I can see its importance and the ways it moved hip hop forward. 3.5-4 for importance, 2 for actual sound, so I'm settling on 3/5.

First track: this sounds very much like the big alternative hip-hop acts of the time... Second track: oh look it's De La Soul! Makes perfect sense. I didn't realise Queen Latifah made music like this, and that it was a match for anything her male peers did. Very fun and funky to begin with, though after half an hour I started to lose interest. I don't think that's all on me either - the beats towards the end of the album definitely seem to become a little slower, sparser and less inventive.

A lot of fun but very dated

The Queen does great work

Not a hip hop or rap fan at all, but I liked this better than most. I think that's mainly because most of the songs had some musical element to it, even if mostly sampled from other stuff. Why are rappers so full of themselves though? It's like every other word on this album is "Queen Latifah". 3 stars.

Sunday at Miki and Piero’s 19th of March.

Classic - want to revisit

Pretty good. I wasn't the biggest fan back in the day but she's got some solid skills

It’s a decent rap album. Not as good as things to come, but I enjoyed it.

Lekkere oldschool rap, wel veel van hetzelfde uiteindelijk.

I thought it was miles better than LL Cool J recently. Still sounds very 80s rap but some of the beats were good and she's a better rapper than I realised

Old school, clean hip hop, but redundant

Only knew her as a (terrible) actress so thought I would hate this, but it's a nice slice of 80's hip hop

wild samples. very interesting to see a modern pop culture icon in her starting steps

3.75

slayyyyyyyyyyyyy queen

As someone who mainly knows Queen Latifah from movies this was cool. She got some bars. Solid listen.

A right royal scam.

Behold the Queen. Highlights: The Pros

Some nice old school rap

3.75

Not bad, actually. Pretty interesting hip hop. And honestly, her lyric work is pretty good. Standouts: Dance for Me, Ladies First

3. Not sure I'd listen again, but I enjoyed it while it was on. Good vocals and backing tracks. A few hidden gems too.

норм!

Bängäävämpi kuin mitä uskalsin odottaa.

It's a pretty nice record for the genre of that time, but nothing extraordinary.

I respect the Queen for her place as a pioneering female in the rap industry. One thing that irks me about mainstream rap in the late 80s/early 90s is the narcissism of it all - I'm the best rapper, nobody raps like me, blah blah blah. And Dance for Me as the opener just tapped right into that irritation for me. The album generally felt pretty simplistic, like the Run DMC album did for me. Just middle of the road for me.

Queen Latifah has a great voice, but much of “All Hail the Queen” feels pretty dated, including Latifah’s flow.

Oh my 1989 sounds like a century ago. The beats are ancient. The rapping is basic. The album is like one of those prehistoric lizards captured in a glob of amber. Cute. Nostalgic. But ultimately ancient.

I dig this late 80s/very early 90s rap sound, it has a fun vibe. I hadn't heard this before (tbh I had no idea what Queen Latifah did before she became "generic annoying black woman #1" in movies) but it's enjoyable enough. That being said, she can't rap at all really, and going for over an hour? Fark, learn some restraint. 3/5.

I knew Queen Latifah had a rap career before her career as an actor but had no idea what it was like. This wasn't bad. It's very dated in the sound, but it's a sound I like. Plus it has really relevant lyrics and I'm sure a female voice at the time was a good thing in a very male-dominated music.

Okay, I'll admit it: I have had only a very small number of celebrity crushes in my lifetime, and Queen Latifah is on that short list, including at present. There's a bias right there, not much I can do about it, so there we go. Anyway, that fully and fairly disclosed, I enjoyed listening to this album. Her voice is wonderful and engaging, the music is infectious, there are some interesting layers of instruments (not all synths, thank heavens), and this album is fun.

Surprisingly good. Had never heard this early QL before and I felt it was the best I have heard from her. 3/5

actually not that bad - decent 80s rap, was surprised

Some parts are pretty messy, but the rapping is good. Best song: A King and Queen Creation, Worst song: Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children.

So this is a nice nostalgia throwback to 80's and early 90s rap. While it does feel a bit outdated, I can still appreciate it after all these years.

canzoni belle, coinvolgente, mi piace perchè dice un sacco di volte il suo nome nelle canzoni ahah

bello, rap non omogeneo ma melodie semplici e retrò

Queen can spit, beats are banging

Very important to hip-hop culture/women in hip-hop/Chicago culture. Good if not a little bit repetitive outside of the first and last few songs here. Definitely an important entry on the list. 3.5/5

Ok

Nice old school raps with Funky instrumentals

Don't know her, but the music is good. It reminds me of Neneh Cherry.

Listening to this "old-school" style is a little comical now that I'm in my 40s. This was such hard-hitting, scary stuff back in the day, but now it sounds so basic. But - it's still awesome, and Latifah did it just as well as her male counterparts.

I recognize Queen Latifah much more for her TV/movie career. But, even knowing about her music, I never took the step to try it. That said, I enjoyed this album a lot. This dancing hip-hop, with some reggae influences, really pleased me. Quite a long album, and the lyrics are a little repetitive, but I'll give her a try to her other albums someday. PS: she wants that everybody knows her name and also that she is a queen 😂

She's great fun and very charismatic, but I'm not sure why all hip hop albums of this era needed to be so long.

Kind of a cool album. 6/10

Some of these tracks are fantastic and really get a groove on, musically, socially and politically. There are a few filler tracks but my main problem with it is that I get a bit bored overall as it is very similar throughout. But each time I think I've has enough the next track is great.

-Choruses in "Wrath of My Madness" and "The Pros" are catchy -It's like, fine...

Este disco me sorprendió. Incluso a pesar de lo anticuado que a veces se escucha con esa producción que suena tanto a fines de los 80, me gusta el ritmo de Queen Latifah.

Rhythm-wise matriarch raps. DJ Mark is steady on the decks, Latifah able to supplement his medium tempos with a full-bodied voice that's never going to make the beat speed up but at least doubles up on bounciness. Proudly female Afrocentrism with added buoyancy is a mix I find impossible to resist. And why would I even want to?

Hip-hop is a genre that I rarely explore, but I was pleasantly surprised with this one! I had no idea Queen Latifah had such good flow (I'm more familiar with her as an actress than a musician) and I really enjoyed the upbeat energy coursing through the album. There's a nice variety of samples and collaborators keeping the sound fresh from track to track, though the album is immediately identificable as having been released in the late 80s / early 90s based on the generic style of beats & line delivery that was so commonplace during that era. The album loses a bit of steam and creativity towards the end, and despite a handful of songs sounding a bit dated ("Come into My House" in particular), this was still so much better than I was expecting going in. I can definitely see myself revisiting this album if I'm in the mood for some throwback hip-hop. Standout tracks: "Dance for Me", "Wrath of My Madness", "Ladies First"

Some solid late 80s rap. Good beats. 3.5 rounded down

Didn't mind this, had some good rhythms and nice background music. I'll admit, wasn't paying too much attention though.

Pretty generic

Ik hou wel van die 80's rap.

A hip hip artefact (meant in a positive way). Funny to think that once, there were next to no female MCs. (The conversation about the job specification for female rappers is for people wiser that this writer.) Production credits are a veritable who's who of late 80s hip hop – De La Soul, KRS One, Prince Paul, with Fab Five Freddy lurking in the wings. Happy days...

I'm a bit "meh" about this one. She's good in The Equalizer, though.

Undeniable for its place in history, and the energy, lyrics, and production are high. That early hip-hop sax/horn section! But I’m not going to be listening to this very frequently… 3 stars (ugh, want to make it at least 4 for the Grammy win, but I just don’t love this album.)

Totally fine Golden Age hip-hop, I recognized a lot of the samples but not a lot of the tunes. Enjoyed listening, but don't think I'll be returning any time soon.

This is really fun, great beat and energy to it, little bit corny but not too much. Bit too long, could've stripped it back a little and pushed it higher, but 3/5 seems fair.

I appreciated this, but I didn't love it I guess. I thought it was fun and it was great to hear female lyrics in a rap style that I can only really think of male artists that are similar

Really enjoyed this, it could really bop!

Very 90’s in a positive way.

Good 7/10

Fun album by the queen

I dig it but wow it sounds very dated now. Still a fun listen probably the first time listening to the whole album.

Very enjoyable, from a weirdly innocent period in time

She really is the queen when it comes to flows, especially for the late 80's. Unfortunately, not every song hits hard, with some inconsistent production and some bloat on the songs really dragging it down for me.

Erittäin viihdyttävä levy. Loppua kohti vähän alko kyllästyttää, mut kantoi loppuun asti

I was old of dreading listening to this but there several tracks I enjoyed. Yes, much of it is dated sounding but it’s still pretty OK for some of it. Good messages in the lyrics.

This is a weird one for me. The production reminded me of De La Soul. None of the songs really stood out but it wasn't bad. Latifah charisma reminds you why she became an actress. Probably won't listen again.

good female rapping :P nice album Ladies first is the highlight imo

The sounds of the very late 80s. Some of those sounds and the production sounds so dated now. But it's fun in a weirdly nostalgic way

Way more pop style production then I expected.

Pleasantly surprised

Not bad, just not my jam.

les remix c’est pour nous achever

A nice fresh listen for a Sunday evening.

I had always enjoyed Queen Latifah's acting but had never checked out her albums. She's got some big names producing and performing on this album, and I tended to prefer the tracks that were collaborations. Ladies First, Evil that Men Do, and The Pros were my favorites. I liked the beats but the lyrics were pretty generic late 80's hip-hop and didn't really grab me. 3.5/5 stars

Good

Not bad and definitely one of the more easy listening rap albums

I guess I'm a sucker for '80s/'90s beats when they're done well. This was a pretty good one. 3.5

The 'Mama gave birth' song is so irritating that I almost gave up on this, but I'm glad I stuck with it. The rest is some solid hip-hop, nice instrumentals

I can't say I loved this album but I'm glad I listened to it. I'll come back to a couple of songs, but I don't know how often I'll revisit it in its entirety. I appreciate Queen Latifah so much more after listening to this, though.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I really enjoyed the creativity on display in many of the songs and also a bonus star for achieving success in what must have been an extremely male dominated (and misogynistic) genre

progressive 90s hiphop, lots of Queen Latifah talking about herself. beats range from frustratingly 90s to kinda catchy. overall it feels kind of dated

Feels ahead of it's time, but also dated. That said it's got great vibes and I starred a few tunes.

A grower - and it gets funkier as it progresses. It’s Jamaican tinged tracks are my favourite.

This is one of those albums that you really WANT to be better than it is. Latifah is technically very good, but she has that late 80s lyrical style that feels very dated in hip-hop. From memory, I feel like Monie Love (who features here) had a more interesting lyrical style on her debut record. Some of the production and features here are really good. The track with Daddy-O from Stetsasonic is the highlight track with great vocals and production. Mark the 45 King does the majority of production, and some of it is great but some is boring. He also raps on one of the stronger tracks. De La Soul make an appearance which is pretty enjoyable, but Prince Paul's production is frustrating as always. On the one hand, he's an amazing producer with incredible samples and loops. On the other hand, his stuff from this period has these "goofy" irritating skit elements which ruin whole albums. KRS-One produces a mediocre track but doesn't rap which is a shame. Overall, some of the production and vocals are pinnacles of the period. But the two components are not always strong in the same tracks, and sometimes they are both weak. The house track "Come into My House" is the low point of the album which deducts at least half a point by itself. 3*

It's not as awful as Kanye's "The College Dropout", but still, hip hop isn't my cup of coffee.

It's easy to imagine how impenetrable and male-dominated hip-hop must have been in the late 80s, so Queen Latifah entering the equation with force and persuasion must have been a real game-changer. Even if I found some of it repetitive and overlong, I had the feeling she was rewriting the rule book with this album and laying down a lot of enjoyable tracks to boot. I'm a sucker for brass sampling and this album has it by the sousaphone load, from the opening "Dance for Me" to the excellent, De La Soul-featuring "Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children" which zips around all over the place. Proceedings begin as infectious, feel-good, sunshine sampling and energetic, affirming, violence and profanity-free rap. As the album unfurls, Latifah balances "foot" and "head" music: social commentary "Evil that Men Do" makes a powerful statement and "Ladies First" is an addictive, career-defining manifesto. On paper, it all sounds excellent: my main issue as I listened was the length. Many of the songs play all their cards within the first couple of minutes and don't leave themselves anywhere to progress: a lot of them come off feeling repetitive. "The Pros" is far too long, and the house-influenced "Come into My House"- with its synthesisers and programmed beats, is an interesting experiment but gets a little monotonous, and has aged more than the rest of the album. "A King and Queen Creation" is another weak link: while I enjoyed 45 King's production in general, I wasn't crazy about his vocals in this one. The sequencing is frustrating as well- "Princess of the Possee" and "Inside Out" are two of my least favourites and end the album on a bit of a nothing note. While there are a few songs that didn't do anything for me personally, this is still a fun listen and brings another perspective on this era of hip-hop, which has remained fresh and vital. Most of my highlights are in the front half: "Ladies First", "...Soul Children" and "Wrath of My Madness" in particular deserve to go down as classics.

Very much of its time. Maybe a higher rating if I’d gotten to listen to lyrics more.

Always knew she had a hip hop background but had never heard a song before. She has some outstanding rhymes on this album. Some random uncredited (at least on Spotify) guest spots that take over the song that took me out of it a little but overall was impressed!

Refreshingly gangster-free, although still posturing about ability. Good use of "daisy-age" jazz-funk samples alongside big beats. Dig the Sly and Scot-Heron samples and what about the additional remix sampling The The!?! Pretty dated, but pleasant to hear.

Not bad, but it hasn't aged super well. There's a lot of early hip-hop on this list that feels very dated. Some of it is important from a historic perspective, but compared to the amount of more recent hip-hop inclusions, it's pretty overloaded.

Hip-hop femenino. No está mal.

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: The pros

Good old-school rap. I recall when this album was released , and at the time QL seemed to be the only woman rapping in the “traditional” style of the day. The times they have changed, and she gets a lot of credit for opening doors for the many successful acts that have followed. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dang I only really knew Queen Latifah as an Actress. I knew she started in music, but never really listened to it. This is some solid stuff!

some top samples, and good for its time

Pretty dated but she does well as any emcee from the era. She reminds me of the female Ice Cube just not as aggressive

Pleasant surprise

Very entertaining.

2.5

Rap femenino sin muchas complicaciones. No excesivamente intenso. Bases muy sampleadas y bastante parecidas. Curioso de escuchar, pero sin destacar

I remember driving along the Glenavy Road more than the album itself - Come into My House in particular. Think I finished it; did I definitely?

hips hop

Awesome

Queen latifah paved the way for female rappers. Lyrically she’s pretty good but the late 80s rap style is a bit bland in comparison to what’s been made sense. The album has some good moments and a few songs are worth a replay but overall it’s nothing amazing. 6.5/10

i really liked the sound but some of the songs were really repetitive and it got annoying after while but i did like it

Never listened to her before, and not really my genre, but I enjoyed this.

Pretty catchy. 0RS

A ratos llegué a sentirlo repetitivo, pero sin duda tiene sus buenos beats y sus rimas ok. "Come into My House", "Wrath of My Madness", "Evil that Men Do" e "Inside Out" son mis favs y claro, "Ladies First" suena muy lo que ahora dicen empoderante. Por las fechas, supongo que sí tuvo su influencia en raperas subsecuentes. Y pues ya, no sé qué más decir. 7/10

The queen of latifah

I had this CD. I don’t think I realized how star studded this album was. But age hasn’t been kind. What a disjointed mess. Although Monie Love nearly saved it. Born in L-O-N-D-O but sound Americ -N.

Girl power

Lol

This album is a great debut from Queen Latifah. I absolutely love it. Every song on this album is a great one, but my absolute favorites are: "Princess of the Posse" and "Inside Out".

Mediocre at best.

I can see that it’s influential. I just didn’t like it very much. Also, the Chipmunks on the De La Soul song are *really* bad.

Det eneste som jeg ved om hende er at hun var den primære inspiration for Natasha og Karen Mukupa. Jeg anderkender at der ikke har været bedre kvindelige hiphop fra den tid på listen.

Alle tracks lyder ends. MC Hammer Hip-Hop. Jeg kedede mig.

I wanted to like this, I like her, but lastly I could not

#983. She seems to be good at it, but that doesn't make it interesting to listen to. 2/5: meh

No private session used for spotify. I thought I would enjoy this album. I did not. Some of it was just to repetitive, some of it was just annoying and none of it made me think I need to hear this again.

The same Bongo best with some ok raps over it.

Not my thing.

Yeah, this did not age well. Her rhymes and flow is pretty basic. Beats are basic. We've gone way past this and it doesn't hold up.

80s rap really feels like a 'had to be there' type of genre a lot of the time

Better actor than rapper, some extra points for being a trailblazer as woman in rap. 2.5

sorry queen

If the Fresh Prince had two X chromosomes. Pass

not for me

Sorry to say I’ve never got the appeal of rap/hip-hop (whichever this is). Most tracks very repetitive and I was more impressed by whoever found and weaved together the quirky samples, than by QL chanting all over them. So ironically might have enjoyed the instrumental album version more.

Landmark album but early Hip Hop has aged poorly.

Sounds incredibly dated now. I love her voice but this is a struggle to listen to. One bonus star for name checking De La Soul

Not for me but good on her being a woman in the rap game. An extra star for respect x

Hip-Hop

Well this style of rap isn't really my thing, but she did pleasently surprise me and being a female rapper in that period didn't make this less quality in that style of rap. Had a few songs I did enjoy. 1. Dance for Me 2. Wrath of My Madness 3. Come into My House

Not bad. Just dated.

No me ha vuelto loco y las canciones son eternas

It’s not bad, it’s upbeat and I like upbeat stuff but it’s really repetitive. Lots of spelling in this album

80’s rap from a young queen latifah

Bof…

Another one that sounds fairly dated to me (although I don't think I'd ever have been tempted to buy it, even when it was fresh and new). Has some decent samples, and some catchy beats (repeated endlessly), but they're pretty basic, and don't really go anywhere. Not terrible, so for sure a 2, possibly a 3. But, by another metric (which I just invented) -- would I want to listen to it again, some time? -- I think it has to be a 2, because I'm not really interested in hearing it again. Feels a little harsh, maybe -- it could be a 2.5, if you will -- but 3 feels too high, to me, so 2 it is. The other obvious factor at play here is my relative lack of interest in lyrics as the focal point of music, since this one is really so heavily about the lyrics (with minimal - and that a distant second - musical accompaniment). Indeed, I'd be tempted to argue that this one feels more like slam poetry with a beat than music. It's not like music that makes you want to sing (or rap or whatever ) along with it -- it's more like poetry being performed AT you.

Not offensive, but not enjoyable either. Nothing about her beat, sound or style is appealing to me.

Some are nice but in General I don't like old school hip-hop

Didn't we already listen to the EXACTLY same album, but male?

Acts more as a survey of hip hop/house adjacent trends, trying to put Latifah in the pole position as a female hip hop star. More or less have the same response I did as a kid, that the Prince Paul production, etc is pretty great, her voice solid, but there’s something a little forced and her flow off enough that it is distracting. But, that was enough to move the needle back then.

Same issues with all other hip hop albums of this era. The sum is less than the individual parts

I don't hate it but I am bored to tears with it

Early dance hip hop albums just don't move me. I'd rather listen to the other '89 Queen album. That being said, the beats are pretty good.

I like her but not really an album I want to listen to. Just her popular stuff.

this ain't it

Lite kul första låten men tröttnade snabbt. Ett helt album var alldeles för mycket.

Bra start med sly and the family stone-sample! Det är svängigt, många bra beats och jag gillar hennes röst men det blir successivt mer och mer bjäring tyvärr. Väger mellan 2 och 3.

Bästa hip-hop albumet hittills?! Kanske den där Kendrick var bättre. Hade ändå rätt skoj dom fyra första låtarna. Sen gick det utför. Inte min genre tyvärr.

ledsen för alla mellanmjölksbetyg

Still better than Kanye West

Go off, Khadijah!

I mean… Ladies First is obviously a huge highlight but man… the rest is just sort of there.

2.5 - ok

It's pretty good. Kind of repetitive. Not a hip-hop fan, so not terribly excited about this.

It isn't my music style but the album felt very repetitive in the music side of things. Can't tell what the case with lyrics was since I wasn't focused on them.

eh its okay

I like her better as The Equalizer!

80s hip hop is not my thing.

2.5 stars. Wasn't terrible, wasn't really anything special though. She's talented but album struck me as more impactful when released without having the staying power decades on. Standout is "Ladies First".

It was fine. I know Queen Latifah, but I really don’t know any of her songs. It had a couple of good samples. It got to be a little long though. She raps well.

i felt bad that i only knew her as ellie the mammoth from ice-age but post listening to this i realise that was her best work

Very much of its time

I can’t say j vibed with this one too much

Corny at times but fun. The beats carry and I love any time I get a De La Soul feature anywhere.

Nah

I can see the appeal and understand why so many people rate this, but it’s just not really my thing. Listening in 2026, it feels very much of its time. “Dance for Me” and “Come Into My House” were the obvious standouts. There’s some solid rapping throughout, but by halfway I started to lose interest. It felt a bit repetitive, and a few tracks came across like filler. Favourite Track: “Come into My House”

Hip hop oldies.

Respect it, don't love it.

Oooh, no thank you

Good, but not for me

rap als in 'het steekt rap tegen'

Não gostei...

Couldn't wait to finish this . Super dated tinny drum machines and someone wailing on top.

Meh, nie moja bajka

I confess that until today I have never heard any music at all from Queen Latifah. At least not that I know of. I know who she is of course, mostly as an actor. I am not a hip hop fan at all so I don't think this will be one that I am particularly going to like... Ok so admittedly I wasn't really paying attention while most of this album played. I didn't hear any of the normal hip hop tropes - misogyny, violence, self-aggrandizing, etc. - but I can't say for sure that those things weren't there. I suspect not. But from what I did hear this was basically the same beat and the same vocal line all they way through. And did I hear some muppets or something in there? I do appreciate all of the feminist issues brought up in this record, that was kind of a nice thing to hear in a genre that, as a rule, thinks it's fun and witty to degrade women. Anyway this is still not my thing but I suppose it wasn't as bad as almost all hip hop albums I've listened to up until now. 2/5

Respect to Queen Latifah for being the sole female rapper of the time but I found All Hail the Queen bland and tooooo damn long. 5.6/10

In the 80s, hip hop was a genre that was still very much in its infancy, which is blatantly evident when you listen to much of the music from that era. And this to me feels like pretty average 80s hip hop, it's somewhat fun and does show some genuine talent, but ultimately it does just feel really dated and completely overshadowed by all the far superior hip hop of the coming years.

Hip hop has never been my thing. I don't see anything redeeming here. I'm sure someone who understands the music and culture better has better commentary, but I really don't.

Love her but turns out I don't love her music.

Alright

Queen Latifah flowing like crazy over boom bap beats. Typical 80s rap. Won’t listen again.

Vraiment je n’aime pas

Yasssss Queen, aw hell nah. It's fun for a few songs, but about halfway through I was waiting for it to end.

Definitely better than I thought but good grief, needs an editor for sure. Should be 35 minutes max. Some good songs but a ton of filler.

batidas ótimas, mas letra…ela só sabe rimar que é a melhor, cadê o ritmo E poesia? até curti a mistura com reggae, mesmo não sendo um dos meus gêneros favoritos, mas que álbum chato…

Some good songs, but overall it falls short of what I was hoping for. 2.5 stars

meh 80s hip hip

Synes det var litt tynt

sounds like 80s which isnt necessarily good. music like this needs to be carried by the lyrics

Glad she made the list. Album was fine. I didn’t listen to a lot of it just dated boring.

I never got into Queen Latifah, though, listening to her debut album, All Hail the Queen, she’s definitely as good as any other rapper from that time. She’s a master at her craft, and she was a trailblazer for women in rap. She was the first huge female rap star. In 1989, when this album debuted, I was more into the extremely raunchy or gangsta rap. The Queen never really made it into my playlist back then. My playlist included 2 Live Crew, N.W.A., Ice T, and Too $hort. Like most rap albums, there were about a dozen producers, but while Queen held down the rapping, the producers made some pretty good beats and grooves for her. That’s one thing that kind of took me out of rap at the time, I was never really a lyric guy, unless they were funny, I was more a riff or melody guy. This album does have some sweet grooves, like her first single Wrath of My Madness and The Pros. This won’t be an album that makes it into my regular playlist, but I understand why it's on the 1,001 List of Albums. It’s the first real breakthrough for women in rap. You should hear it at least once, if for nothing else than to say you heard it. Otherwise, if you’re a fan of old school late 80s and early 90s rap, it’s a solid entry.

I almost exclusively know Queen Latifah as an actress. She sang great in Hairspray but unfortunately her rapping is not for me. Some of these beats are just really annoying. Which, to be fair, is a hallmark of this era of hiphop. But it isn't something I enjoy listening to.

While researching about the album I learned about the Native Tongues movement. It has artists like De La Soul (who is featured on this album - and I got their debut already), A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah, and others. Started in the late 80s, it is Afrocentric and positive stuff. Neat to learn about

01) Dance for Me - 6,5 02) Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children - 5,5 03) Come into My House - 6,5 04) Latifah's Law - 5,5 05) Wrath of My Madness - 6,0 06) The Pros - 5,5 07) Ladies First - 6,0 08) A King and Queen Creation - 5,5 09) Queen of Royal Badness - 5,5 10) Evil That Men Do - 5,0 11) Princess of the Posse - 6,0 12) Inside Out - 5,5 TOTAL: 5,75 (58/100) Current ranking: 634/762

Queen L can definitely rap but the beat tracks are so r-e-p-e-t-i-t-i-v-e and songs start sounding the same. Latifah's Law was a favorite.

Inoffensive and lightweight. Some of it is listenable but it’s monotonous and there’s a lot of self referencing. Has some historical significance but didn’t need to be dragged out of 1989.

Listenable but not my thing.

Fun beats, and obviously her voice is important in the genre's ouevre, but not really my bag.

2+ Stars (6/15)

I prefer her as an actress

Didn't get anything much from this at all.

I have heard of Queen Latifah but don't really know any of her material. After the first two or three tracks, I didn't really care for this album, but after getting a few more tracks into it, it started to grow on me. At its heart, this seems like dance beats with rapped vocals. It incorporates other genres too though, reggae, jazz, and soul. I doubt I would come back to this, but I can see the appeal and am happy to have heard it once.

Queen Latifah is crazy talented and has an incredible career to back it up. All Hail The Queen isn’t very good but she got her foot in the door and proved it doesn’t have to be a man’s world.

das ist natürlich sehr cool alles aber die Beats hauen mich nicht so um evtl zuwenig im genre wie NWA drin um ganz zu verstehen..? c

Rap, dance, 1989 -> 2

This couldn’t have sounded more late 80’s into the 90’s. Is it an album that heralds an age of women rappers along side Nenah Cherry and the like? Well, yes! Is it good? Well, I didn’t enjoy it.

There's an album by Queen Latifah called the Dana Owens (her birth name I believe) album. It's an album on which she pays Hommage to jazz, soul and blues. A beautiful album, very well-performed and produced. Need to put that on again, and I'm glad I own a physical CD of it because it's not available on streaming. Anyway. This is not that album. At all. It's a hip-hop/pop affair. Which is grand, but not my cuppa no matter how many albums of that genre are thrown at me by this project.

meh

Meh.

What a time capsule from 1989. In that respect it is perfect. But how does it hold up as something I want to listen to now? Not too well.

Hip hop, no puedo ser tan moreno para detenerme en esto

It’s okay, got boring after the first five tracks

Bit let down I won’t lie

I’ve only ever know QL as the ubiquitous media polymath who isn’t a businesswoman, but is a business, woman. So what immediately impresses me about this record, aside from the sheer time capsule-ness of it, is how evident that signature mix of talent, warmth and charisma that’s kept Queen Latifah part of the culture for almost 40 years was even at the age of 19. There are a couple of bona fide jams on this record – “Dance for me”, “Ladies first” especially. And even though the pacing and songwriting feels almost relentlessly uniform across 12 tracks … there’s no denying it’s never far from bop territory. I won’t say the obvious simply because saying that something from November 1989 hasn’t aged well risks touching on a sore subject for me at the minute (my quad’s gone again, corked by the ravages of an attempt to play social sport); suffice it to say that this record is a buoyant and mood enhancingly positive hip hop record from the genre’s OG First Lady.

I know that her music is quite important from back in the day, but I was not really a huge fan of that kind of rap, but instead enjoyed the more melodic one. Overall, the songs seemed pretty similar, but I do understand that the lyrics are what mainly matters here.

Really, this kind of music hasn't aged well. Recognisable samples are a bit irritating. The vocal delivery is a bit irritating.

Definitely not anything that I would want to listen to again, but I get why it made the list from an “importance” standpoint for the genre.

Somehow never even knew queen latifah made music. This was not good

I'm appreciative of a strong female voice in hip-hop but a lot of these songs just sound like average hip-hop songs of the time. Unfortunately a lot of the rapping wasn't that impressive. A lot of songs sound the same and formulaic, and if you like that sound then that's good, but to me it just makes it kind of boring. The standout track is "Ladies First" which has that classic sax hook over the break beat. The voice modulation in "Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children" is one of the most annoying things I've heard in a song, and ruins an otherwise solid track featuring De La Soul. There is also some reggae mixed in, e.g. "The Pros" or "Princess of the Possee", which gives a break to the similar jazz-over-breakbeat songs, but they didn't quite do it for me, and it goes on too long. Overall, I think this probably hit differently in 1989 but it didn't quite hold up.

le bout avec les kids était étrange

Insomnia - Repetitivo. El rap inglés no me gusta demasiado

conventional

There's a lot of hip hop that got left off this list to make room for this. Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children is my least favorite De La Soul song ever. The baby talk is one of the worst parts of any of the albums I've heard so far. Nina Sky loves Come into My House. There's a little bit of an overstuffed sound that was popular from some early hip hop. It's like DJs thought if they crammed enough sound into a song it would have something for everyone. Latifah's Law is like that and still my favorite song so far. I believe that Queen Latifah is the greatest female battle rapper in history. 80s/90s rappers loved moving into sitcom roles. Queen Latifah, LL Cool J and, king of cheesy rap, the Fresh Prince. Monie Love really puts Queen Latifah's skill in perspective because she sucks. There are so many more deserving hip hop albums.

2,5

super interessante e ela manda mto nas letra né bacana, mas me pegou num dia mei ruim (ressacado)

Didn't do much for me. De la soul should have more tracks lol

Not for me

I don’t hate it Good 90s production with a Sly Stone sample in the first song But I lowkey don’t like any of the verses

Meh. Fine for its time period, but feels boring now

Queen Latifah best musical moment is in taxi driver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbeuacV1GKw Impressive that Queen Latifah was 19 for this project, but with age it has gotten worse than what would've been back in the day

Rap isn't really my thing. 2,5/5

2/5

Enjoyable, obviously highly influential. High 2s.

eh it's not bad just not my style

2,1/5

it's not bad but it sounds just like every late 80-s early-90s rap. It's honestly kind of crazy how old hip hop has aged; Like, it's not bad at all, it's just all sounds exactly the same regardless of who the artist is. Kind of crazy TBH. It is cool seeing a female artist breakout in the genre so early, though. The song featuring De La Soul was fun.

It’s the flip side of a sample album like Paul’s Boutique. It exists, many people like it, it doesn’t really do anything for me (and it probably wasn’t intended to)

I like Rap and I know historically this is considered as having a pioneering position in hip hop history but it misses its mark for me. Maybe it just doesn't age well it feels dated and soft-edged. If Stock Aitken Waterman wrote Rap this is what it would sound like. Its style is safety first, tonally very clean has high production gloss. There's even token attempt to put a political spine in some of the tracks (" Ladies First"). But to me it feels like early crossover rap made palatable so it will sell to the widest audience possible.

Pop dance area of popular hip hop at the time. Uninteresting.

Gear: HEDD Audio HEDDphone Two Artwork: 🌍👩🪖 Production: 🙄🤔🤷 Music: 🤣🙅‍♂️👑 Rating: 🔙(🔙)/5

It's... fine? I understand that this is an important album. If i'm not mistake, Queen Latifah is one of the earliest popular female rappers. So this record is inherently significant. It's just not for me. The instrumentals are fun, but the rapping doesn't grab me. I'm not normally into "i'm the greatest" kinda rap and there's a lot of that on here. Hell that's kinda why i don't like the newest Kendrick Lamar record. To be clear, there's nothing wrong with Queen Latifah taking this angle. There are so many rap albums like this throughout the history of the genre. It's still a big thing today. And it rarely clicks with me. If anything, she's more justified than most rappers doing this because she's a woman in rap in 1989. The genre itself is trying to establish it's importance in the world at that time and as one of the earliest women in the genre, i'm sure she had to fight 10 times harder than the men to be taken seriously. So i totally get why her lyrical focus is often "i'm fucking great at this and you should respect me." On top of that, there's always been a joke/idea that there can only be one successful female rapper at a time. That trope/situation is only just changing in the last 5 years, but historically it pits women in rap against each other to be that person. I assume it was no different at the time. So she's trying to convince male rappers to take her seriously and be the best woman in rap. I imagine it was a huge struggle/pain in the ass. So ya, that's my hypothesis for the subject matter. I respect it (even understand it), i just didn't enjoy it. When she talked about other topics, i was more interested, like on Evil That Men Do. But those moments were few and far between. For the most part the songs and the bragging blurred together. One of the only ones that stood out was The Pros, but it stood out in a bad way. I really hated that song and it felt like it went on forever. Another one that stood out was Come into My House, but for a good reason. That chorus is catchy. Anyways, ya, this album was fine. A solid 2. I think I prefer Queen Latifah as an actor. I'll always remember her from that one episode of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air where Will learns a lesson about being shallow, very after school special. Classic.

Some cool tracks but some got repetitive or boring

so glad I listened! Queen Latifah!!!

Ток не чёрная музыка

This is so not my thing that no matter how wide I try to open my mind, I just can't appreciate it properly.

Having just suffered the indignity of listening to the Beastie Boys for this project, the only thing I can say is that it this album wasn’t as bad as that.