All Hail the Queen

This isn’t really bad, but it’s not very interesting and wanting for catchiness. Old school hip-hop has had more misses than hits sadly.

When I first listen to the album, it changes me and reminds me a bit of what I listened to 20 years ago... Pretty soon, I get bored, always the same rhythm and tempo. In short, this album is a sort of endless loop...

[2.5/5] Final impressions: Everything here is alright. Some minor stand-outs to me. Nothing especially bad, just not my typical genre. Less repetitive than either of the previous albums, but still somewhat repetitive. Listened to on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/album/6Agl4DVuihiDPuxuN1L8Jv]. Dance for Me - Solid beat, but nothing else stood out to me. Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children - What an opening. This one's great. Though the kid sounds are driving me insane in a bad way. Come into My House - Similar to the first track, nice beat but nothing else of note. Latifah's Law - Favorite track so far. Wrath of My Madness - A good combo between variety and catchy beat. I like this one. *The Pros - Best track yet. Similar to the last track in terms of variety, but I like the sound of this one more. Ladies First - It's fine. Not as strong as the previous few tracks, but stronger than the album openers. A King and Queen Creation - Nothing of note. Queen of Royal Badness - Starting to really lose the variety it gained. It's fine. Evil that Men Do - Not bad. Has a lyrical message that holds up relatively well. Princess of the Possee - I like the vocals on this one. Inside Out - Not great as a finale track in my opinion. Otherwise fine. Overall notes: Not my usual genre, but I liked some of the tracks here. At least it wasn't a collection of the same exact track like the last two albums have been.

Why is this album so long? It has aged into being rather corny. Cool at the time, I'm sure, but I only like "The Pros".

It's ok. It is not getting a second listen.

Too many songs with Queen talking about herself in the third person.

2.4 1x catch up... decent for some classic hip hop

I want to like this but it’s about as mid as her acting. It’s passable but that’s about it.

Nope

Overall thoughts: groove is great but repetitive, lyrics are very repetitive Standout tracks: 5) “Wrath of My Madness”, “Ladies First” Tracks I dislike: 2) “Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children”

I've accepted by this point that hip-hop isn't my thing. This is a fine album, I just personally didn't care for it much. Best track: "Ladies First"

All hail the Queen - enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Not likely to go back to it.

Meh hip hop

Fine

This record sounds very dated to me. De La Soul inject their own magic into the proceedings but it’s just not a genre I’ve ever managed to really connect with - I can hear the record’s influence though.

Off the cuff remark: If I knew much about this would it sound as dated as I think it does? Standout Track: "Evil That Men Do" something so much more, lyrically, than 'I'm better than you' which so many of the songs are...? Is that a riff stolen from "Revolution Will Not Be Televised" too? Revisit?: Evil That Men Do, for sure. The rest.... unlikely.

I am biased because I just love her as a person, and I knew her for her newer singing for an Ice Age movie. It's kinda cool to hear this

Idk man, 90s rap just sounds so... underdeveloped and dated so much so that it sounds cheesy to me. That said, I liked Queen Latifah's sound, I'm not a fan of the vocal fry that women rappers of today seem to use a lot

Not horrible, but not for me.

The chipmunk talk on track two drags down an average album which has a few good tracks towards the end

I don't know... reminds me of Will Smith rap albums. Too positive or uplifting which just makes it feel bland.

This started off better than I expected, but honestly got sooooo boring listening throughout. Idk if it was repetitiveness or it just sounded dated. Did she just mention the I'm Just A Bill song from middle school in Inside Out?

Da e greit nok

In context, iconic. In 2025, sounds tired

Pretty average 80s hip hop album but I guess this one stands out because its got a female rapper. Respect to the queen. Favorite track: Latifah's Law 2.5/5

Too jumpy. I cannot.

First off, I never knew Queen Latifah was a rapper. To me she will always be Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray. Iconic This however was not it. It started off quite good, but it got so repetitive. How many songs do you need where you tell us you're the q-u-e-e-n? Very dated songs that didnt age well. Also she completely threw me off when she pulled out the Jamaican accent and started rapping about rastas 2 ⭐️

This album just about scrapes into the two-star category for me. I find it repetitive and monotonous, with lyrics bordering on the annoying.

Was not expecting the C+C Music Factory track "Come into my house", also not a great song. Overall not a great album but I respect Queen L as a whole but this one wasn’t great

yeah i couldn’t really get behind this one. i LOVED her voice and the instrumentals were pretty groovy, but this album was just overall not my style. 2/5.

Album 725 of 1001 Queen Latifah - All Hail the Queen (1989) Rating : 2 / 5 Not half bad. I don't know enough of the genre to compare to others but I enjoyed it. Good hip hop/rap without the boring attitude.

I’m not entirely sure why this album made the list. Debut album and certainly a women first sentiment, but musically it’s kind of boring and doesn’t age well. I didn’t enjoy her voice while rapping much, found it quite annoying. Wreath of my madness is a wild song, probably the best on the album

Apologies to the Queen, but like another album we listened to a few days ago, this just sounds outdated to me.

Better than I expected, but not my thing.

I returned my rental car and the guy started it up to check the gas and Queen Latifah was blaring through bluetooth. Really hard to explain that. I like her vibe but this didn’t do much for me.

All hail the queen, indeed 😂 Im sure the innovative part of this album was amazing (rap over jazz/other genres, woman) at its time. In the present, I appreciated more of the clarity of each song. Whenever I wanted to, I could follow the lyrics and get into the song - old man alert. QL seems super fun and down to earth. I enjoyed the experience. 2.5 stars for my taste Favorite tunes: Ladies First, Evil That Men Do

I’m sure this album is somehow important in the bigger picture, but not really for me. Some fun sampling.

Yeah no. Didn’t like listening to this at all.

This is just so lacking in edge - cosy hip-hop. Not my genre, and not interesting enough for me to like it.

I guess 80s rap just isn’t my thing

I can’t remember her name for the life of me. If only several songs repeated it… I’m not the greatest connoisseur of hip hop, but this felt particularly boring. The beats and her delivery are both so rudimentary that this ends up feeling like the listening equivalent of viewing a “paint by numbers” artwork.

Not too keen on this, very mid 80s but decent production.

QL is cool, but the arrangements here are goofy.

Some rap from the early days sounds hopelessly simplistic in both rhymes and beats. This groundbreaking album at the time (first major release by a female rapper) sadly falls in that camp. Despite some interesting Jamaican/rasta flourishes and singing that adds some dimensionality, ultimately the Queen’s simple delivery and DJ MC 45 (or something)’s lowkey beats just don’t hold my interest now.

Not too bad, but not really my thing either. At the very least, it presents a different prespective from almost every other rap album on this list, you know, by being a lady rapper and all. And I like Latifah, she seems like a cool person. Key tracks: Wrath of My Madness

Queen Latifah is a much better rapper than actor, I will admit. But boy howdy I do not like her acting. The De La Soul feature was cool. Outside of that, this is almost an entirely forgettable album, and I'm once again scratching my head at the inclusion on this list.

Dated and sadly not very interesting, quickly got very repetitive.

The Equalizer should have come round and put me out of my misery.

Not for me but I didn’t hate it.

Not my thing, at all.

Not really in the mood for old school hip hop so my review will be biased... I'm pretty impressed how good of a rapper she is, she's so famous now you don't really think of her as a good rapper. Yeah this is way too dated for me this morning, not gonna be able to get through this one. I get the gist, it's not bad, I'm just not looking for 80s hip hop right now.

Very much of its age

Apparently this album was deemed to be culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant and was, as a consequence, selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress. To me, it's just another mainly boring Hip-Hop album.

Feel like if I was listening to hip hop back then, this would have been great, but in a world with Kendricks and Aesop Rocks, this album just feels ancient. Not necessarily aged poorly, just that the beats and rapping are very simple, there's a lot of "I'm a great rapper, I'll destroy you at the mic" lyrics. That late 80's "I need to hit every beat extremely hard with my rhymes" with a very hard flow (which is now, unfortunately, synonymous with awful corporate training videos that try to be cool). A lot of the music is great and some of the sung choruses are great (The Pros, which weirdly has some of my least favorite rapping on the record. Which is funny because the sung choruses have better "rapping" with rolled/trilled lines that the actual rapping does not). Monie Love was great on Ladies First. Also, recognized the sample used on Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children as it was used in an episode of Better Call Saul, fun fact (Scorpio by Dennis Coffey). But overall, it gets the 2/5 simply because this style of rapping, to me, has just kinda been left behind and does not really work for me in today's landscape. Not necessarily a knock against the album itself and more just a reflection of how far hip hop has progressed since this album came out (and how far it's progressed due to this album's influence).

I didnt really didnt care for this too much. Comparing to other females in same genre, Queen isn’t close to her peers especially Missy.

Boring 90s hip-hop. Did not sound very original, but it was not unlistenable. Stand-out: Come into My House

Wu Tang did it better

I think maybe this album requires a ton of historical context to properly appreciate, because it sounds very dated at this point. Not a must-hear album, I'm afraid.

picks: princess of the posse, ladies first

Not for me

doesn’t feel like it represents her stuff the best

I remember liking this a lot more when it came out. I guess hip hop has moved on a long way since then and this sounds quite dated now.

Not really my jam

Cool to hear the groundbreaking female rap star from her time but not my favorite

Not terrible but probably won't revisit. Dated and repetitive rapping, although perfectly playable as filler/background. I guess inclusion to acknowledge her being a trailblazer in a male dominated industry.

Considering the era of rap/hip hop and that I associate QL with Ice Tea and Ice Cube. And that this was an hour. I was not excited to listen. I was right.

Guess I’m not a big Dana Owens fan 🤷🏻‍♀️

Iii, gan jau šis ir kaut kas ļoti lielisks un ģeniāls, taču es to nemāku novērtēt. 😬 Not my jam!

Too hard on the edges

Not my style

She's alright. I think there were better female rappers at the time but I can appreciate her impact in promoting women in rap. Musically it's got that old school hip hop vibe with pretty typical themes.

I usually like older hip-hop records, but this one didn't age that well. The "go mommy" and other ad libs using some intensely vocoded samples is just... bad? The age on this record (mostly on the production sides) really shines through for me. It distracts from the other qualities of the music, as the beats are aight but just missing a little bang. 4/10

Perhaps she should try acting.

Completely forgot she used to be a rapper. Decent 80s rap, bit repetitive. Ultimately quite monotone.

Fine but a bit repetitive and not really my lane. 2.5

Tedious self-agrandising, plodding rap. Oh per-lease, why? I don't believe this list is curated at all - at least, not by a music lover.

Know Queen Latifah from her acting and not from her music. After listening to this I feel I haven't missed much. Not repetitive enough to really hate it but irritating enough.

Horrid. 1.5/5.

It’s fairly good - but I am more of a rock person, so I normally wouldn’t put this on voluntarily. But I’m glad I listened to it. It’s just too long! I prefer albums to be around 40 minutes. Not more than one hour

There are some very cool horn licks in these beats, but they are ultimately repetitive. The lyrics feel pretty bland to me as well, but there’s some good things here.

# 347 : I don't love it, I don't hate it. I thought it was very ordinary and Quiet forgettable. Good 80s rap that again loses a point for length. Too much sampling and not enough Queen, weak lyrics. I probably won't go back to this.

While Queen Latifah's first album is a strong attempt it falls short. In later years we would come to know her for her wonderful singing voice, however- this album does not showcase that. Instead, listeners will note a fairly uninteresting rap album with several standout tracks. This album starts out middling and gets slightly better as it goes, however it never goes off. She almost eats a couple times with Ladies First, Latifah's Law, and Evil That Men Do. But it's kinda samey to my ears. For context, Latifah was only 19 when this album came out. Being so young she was not able to pull together an album that comes close to other rap and hip-hop albums of the era.

Bog standard 80s hip hop, not bad but wouldn’t listen to again

Thank goodness Queen Latifah is only a queen in her own mind! While her confidence shines through in every track, I just can’t help but think that she’s her biggest fan. This is one rap album that would have been better without the rapper!

Meh.

Not terrible, but IMO doesn't stand up well to most of the other hip-hop albums on this list from that same era.

Okay. Didn’t knock my socks off

It was alright Rating: 2.5

Listened to half of it. Decent enough but not memorable. 4/10

Not my fav.

Not so great, but listenable.

This was fun, if a little too pop and polished to rev me up too much. Great voice, obvious samples, but I guess that was how we did it back then. Lots to sing along to - It's A Shame especially. Good, but not (quite) great.

Just the same all the way through with very little making me want to listen again. One and done.

Backgrounds are pretty fun, but I really don't like this style of rap. Just falls flat.

I wonder how many folks were surprised she was a rapper before she became a actress? She's the female Ice Cube and that's not a compliment. The best part of this album was the sample of Dance With the Music by Sly and the Family Stone. Look this was OK, but just reeks of the ultimate cheesiness of the beginning of the 90's and the downfall anything good from the rap genre. Occasional good vibes and beats but could never get into her singing/rapping. Nothing I care to revisit and for the most part, struggled to find anything good to say about this album. 2

This is alright. It does have the worst De La Soul cut I have ever heard, not because of the beat or the rhymes, but because of the extended outro where they pretend to be babies.

Not great. Not really much interesting here. Maybe in the time context it was more interesting or influential. But, it doesn't really hold.

This is like 3 Feet High and People's Instinctive...but with all the wit and invention sucked out and replaced by one-note samples and raps about one topic (me). Yes great that she was a successful female rapper, but being significant and making great music are not the same thing. And soooo long.

An album full of hip hop songs that felt really long and a little boring, but then again I am not a fan of hip hop music.

It was fine. It's hard to go back to that time for these types of albums

Really not my kind of music but one or two songs I could like. Between a 2 and a 3.

I want to like this, I want to hype a woman rapper up, especially one as cool as Queen Latifah is. But this sucks. The lyrical content is solid, empowering and what have you. Something about the combo of it with the “music” though just grates on me. It just became so repetitive and one note the longer it went on. It’s too bad because I usually view late 80s rap much more favourably than this, but I just didn’t like it.

Definitely dated and repetitive but I like early hip-hop and am impressed by a 19-year-old Black woman breaking into the male-dominated rap game in 1989.

Undeniably influential. The style aged a lot better than most from the early days of the era, which is also an achievement. I probably won't really return for many, but it's a landmark moment in the genre, so that alone is worth the occasional re-listen

Generic 90s pop/dance music for the most part. Best Song: Wrath of My Madness

Не раздражает - и на том спасибо. Это не худший из устаревших хип-хоп альбомов, что мне встречались (честно сказать, даже обидно, что некоторым из них я не поставил 1) - уже хорошо. Лучшая песня - Ladies First.

Gut zum Einschlafen.

It's fine - very much a sound of it's time.

Okay didn't know Queen Latifah had an album Meh, very mid album only worthy mentions are "Ladies First" and Wrath of my Madness" and maybe "Inside Out"

Not my cup of tea

Late 80’s hiphop/ house has aged badly.

Man, this is dated as hell. It just comes off very cheesy to me.

All Hail the Queen is novel and fun and funkayy. Nonetheless, it's unable to rise above the inherently dated production and style.

Congratulations to Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children for getting told "God, shut the fuck up" by myself, a person who put the track on by his own free-ish will

Not a great fan of this. 1.5 but I'll give it a 2

Self-aggrandizing yet also preachy

This is so dated, and I’m sure it slapped in 1989, but it’s not the best hip hop I’ve heard. It’s not been the best old school hip hop I’ve heard.

I made it through the album, barely. I've found early rap to be hard to listen to. She has some good melodies, but is a little too high swagger for me to dig.

I’m probably not the target audience, but even if I was, most of the beats on All Hail the Queen are quite bland. Latifah delivers some great bars along the way and “The Pros” is an absolute highlight - overall it’s just not that interesting, no matter how important of a record it might be.

She probably has better ones than this, right? House music? So sampled. But good still

Very 80s hip hop. The Queen is cool though

Mix of semi-gangster rap and club dance music. She is a good rapper I just don't like it.

This album was hailed as a great masterpiece of female hip hop. It seems to me only be interesting from that regard. Production, lyrics, delivery - all that got better around the same time or later on other albums. To me, this album feels a lot more dated than other albums of the time.

This album suffers because of the beats. Queen Latifah has a great voice for rap, and her skills are at least on par with other rappers from this era (she has better songs on her other album that I've heard, Black Reign), but these instrumentals are either uninteresting or poorly constructed, in my opinion. For a lot of these songs, it feels like the samples aren't in the same key with one another, or the bassline doesn't fit, or they're based around an annoying loop or something. It brings the whole thing down, unfortunately.

I had no idea Queen Latifah was a musician lol just thought she was an actress. Anyway, I just really dislike this period of hip hop. Pretty much everything from my Run DMC reviews also applies here. This one is probably just a tad better and more listenable though

Gwn niet mijn ding, repetitief

I'm sure I'm disrespectful in ways I don't understand but none of this grabbed me. It's not awful but I can't see a ton in here that's great.

If you want the perfect example of early female rap …. This is as good as any album from that period …. Unfortunately, it is one dimensional, no real range or change in the music or rap (other than guest vocals). Liked it but it got boring

Not the album for me. Not deserving a 1, so here's a 2. Will I listen to again: 0%

Give me something good.

Thug queen

Every song sounds exactly the same. The album’s only saving grace is that Queen Latifah IS a good rapper, and that’s not even enough to get me to listen again

Stor 2'er! Synes godt nok at det bliver lidt samey i længden og beatsene er ret datede, selvom de egentlig lyder meget godt og Queen Latifah er en god rapper. Ladies First er en banger! Ret skuffet over den med De La Soul - tror jeg havde forventet mere af et album der kom ud samme år og på samme label som deres debut.

Det var sgu ikke lige mig. Musikken var meget cool..

Very repetitive songs and there isn’t a huge difference between the tracks. I think there is a very special place in music hell for songs that use the sound of kids in their tracks. I wanted to like this album way more than I did, and I think that is because of how dated it sounds. Oh did I mention it was repetitive? 2.1

Just could not get into it

she's better off acting, but the music isnt trash 2.5 rounded down

Its really bad...between 1-2 stars, but I'm feeling generous and elect to round up to 2.

Just not my jam.

Le style est ok, mais les paroles viennent pas me chercher. Je savais même pas qu'elle chantait.

This felt a little dated to me.

It was alright but quite forgettable.

In my humble opinion, very mid

A couple of bangers mixed in between a bunch of okay songs. But props to Queen Latifah for helping pave the way for women in hip-hop and R&B! Standouts are Dance for Me and Princess of the Possee.

i’m fond of this pre-gangsta era of hip hop but i’m not that fond of this record

Didn't know she rapped Best Song: The other parts of Mama gave birth to the children of soul Worst Song: the weird alien child voice in Mama gave birth to the children of soul

Missy Elliott 2 P.S. Missy Elliott album felt like homework.

I always thought I liked hip hop. This project has made me think otherwise. I’m apparently veryyyy picky about hip hop and this was not for me. It did nothing for me sorry Queen Latifah

I have always liked the Queen Latifah persona, but man, this album is pretty boring, isn't it, even the album art. Listen to any random two songs and you've pretty much got it. Latifah's Law and Ladies first were my (marginal) faves.

Let me start this review by saying that my love affair with rap/hip-hop goes back to even before this album was released in 1989. With that said, in a relatively new(er) genre that evolved very quickly, some phases just don’t age well. I found this to be the musical equivalent of watching “dude, where’s my car?” now…should’ve just left it as a fond memory of a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

I really tried to get into this and just couldn’t make it happen. Props to her for being a trailblazer with this (I think? Honestly I don’t know). But I just didn’t enjoy it. If this was considered good at the time, the rap game has come a LONG way

This album oozes late 80's/early 90's style (read: corniness). It was a pretty enjoyable listen and props to Queen Latifah for blazing a trail for female MC's. That said, not sure I will be revisiting this album and can't rate higher than "average." 2.5/5

Another album that makes me wonder who made this list. It seems like this was included just because the author owned it and wanted to justify it. It's not a bad record but it's not a genre classic either.

Questioning whose album this really is - Latifah has the most airtime, but there are so many features and guest MCs it feels more like a revolving door of who’s who than her own statement LP. Too many bits where she just lets the beat ride without any vox on top as well - the magic of hip-hop is hearing the words and beat meld into something greater than their part, and I definitely felt like I was missing that here

Extremely dated, and yeah, so are so many other albums on the list but this one is above and beyond. Rap/Hip-Hop wouldn't be the same without this, but we don't really need to recall it. That and it's pretty boring. The same loops/beats and rhyming meter.

I find this genre boring

Quantity over quality.

Anfangs Spaßig. Danach keine Hits und nervig.

Dated and corny. I'm sure it has a good message but I suspect it's not aimed at me.

Technically fine. Just wasn't into it.

I feel like I’m watching In Living Color. Not bad. But certainly not my bag.

I know the Queen as a pretty good comic actress, not a musician. She has a great voice and is a skilled singer, but as rap/hip-hop goes, this is a lot more Fresh Prince than Public Enemy. Pablum for the most part. If there were such a thing as "Pop" hip-hop, this would be it.

Ookay Queen! I’ve never heard this album. Wondering how it’s gonna stack up to her later roles as a cop and Ursula the octopus witch. Dance For Me - it’s that old school rap sound. Was this New Jack Swing? I don’t quite remember. Fun, but suuuuper dated. 2/5 Mama Gave Birth To The Soul Children - Hello Queen Latifah nice to meet you. I wonder where this fits in the history of rap. Did this album break new ground? No idea. Bizarre kid Alvin & the Chipmunks voice, which should be annoying. It’s not though. 2/5 Come Into My House - Definitely booty-shaking music. This is nothing short of consistent so far. 2/5 Latifah’s Law - this song turns me into car dash bobble head. Let see 80s rap card bingo: hyped, mack, check yo. This is definitely my favorite one so far, but is it really significantly better than the others? 2/5 Wrath of My Madness - I’m buggin’! That’s going on rap card bingo. Even though this is one is probably not my favorite, it’s once again not really better or worse. 2/5 The Pros - this album is testing the limits of the 5 star rating system. How many gradations of 2 can you do? I think I might give this a 1/5 cause it’s slightly worse than the last one. But it’s not actively awful. Love the bra strap line. 2/5 Ladies First - slightly higher production value. This might be the single. “holler & scream” - rap card bingo. Have I heard this before? The replay value is slightly higher than the rest. Oooh scratching. Finally 3/5. A King and Queen Creation - I don’t really have anything pithy to say here. It’s starting to wear thin now, but is it bad? No. 2/5 Queen of Royal Badness - rap card bingo - “grab the mic!” “The knowledge!” Step up from the last one. That makes it, wait for it, 2/5 Evil That Men Do - honestly this is starting to get in the filler category. A bit dull. Repetitive. Weren’t most of these albums like that then? Is it 1/5? I dunno 2/5 Princess of the Possee - this is definitely a point for the title. Jamaican rapping? A bit better than the last one. 2/5. Inside Out - Rap card bingo! “Get ill!” Ends on an up note. I like Jamaican patois better on this one than the last one. Is this one a 3/5? Hmm. Close but, no. 2/5 I don’t normally review the remixes but they have a chance to bump these up. Dance with Me remix - I mean this is a solid 3/5 now. Wrath of my Madness remix - is it really a question of production? Maybe. I would definitely play this over the original mix. 3/5 Princess of the Possee - Definitely better but not a whole point. Still a 2/5. I’m a rock guy, so I don’t really have the context for this album. I mean, I definitely see the throughline from this to Salt’n’Pepa to Missy Elliot to Megan Thee Stallion. I just don’t know if there’s a something more going on. Maybe the first one to introduce the Jamaican rapping? Wasn’t that more a mid-to-late 90s thing? It’s remarkable consistent, pretty fun album. It just doesn’t really rise above its era. 2/5

1.5

Not my thing

Given the fact that this was her debut album and she was 19 at the time, this is pretty decent. Much as I generally like old skool hip-hop and rap, Queen Latifah isn't really my cup of tea, but I can respect it.

Meh. Not the worst or anything, feels like a 2.5 though.

It ain't hitting the right notes for me. It was a a definite breakthrough for a female rapper in 1989, but it's pretty monotone.

Meh, it's ok. didn't really do much for me though

2/5. I feel like this era of hip-hop is not aging well. The album was repetitive and not musically interesting.

A mixed bag from the Queen, I'm afraid. This was quite good fun musically and a few of the songs are lyrically strong. The pick of the bunch is probably Evil That Men Do, which is heavily political and very powerful. There's also an undercurrent of railing against the male dominated world of rap. Sadly, the song most obviously on that theme (Ladies First) is both musically one dimensional and lyrically is about one step above 'My name is Latifah and I'm here to say' amateurism. Like I say, some bright spots let down too often, so a pretty low score I'm afraid.

It was fine. Not my typical jam. Kind of fun but just didn't vibe with it.

Een boel gebabbel onder een steeds saaier wordend jarentachtig-hiphopbedje. Ik val erbij in slaap.

Redundant

Nah!

this album defies all my logic it has such cool beats and such a good rapper but i guess it must be the songwriting that makes it feel so boring to me. that or it's because it was made during the 1980s which automatically makes the sound worse.

Ehhhh. Not my favorite type of hip hop. The beats sound very dated and I thought the whole thing dragged on for too long. Definitely not the worst album ever made though.

- Not my vibe at all but I respect it - Some of the beats were hard and fun to listen to - Nothing I'd go back to, sorry Queen

- lots of reggae beats - sounds like early90s rap

Not my cup of tea really. No hooks or anything in my opinion. Not totally rock bottom, but still very uninteresting to me.

I only knew Queen Latifah from her acting career and had no clue she was a rapper. I have heard her sing though in "Chicago" where she did a real good job. Anyway, this album was ok but nothing more. I didn't find any song that really hooked me but the flow was nice and I think she is a good rapper. Maybe with some better beats this would have been more interesting.

This is not the mix of rap and hip-hop that i like. The hip-hop muddy electronic beatbox sounds very late 80's, is distracting, and takes a layer of seriousness out of the lyrics. This is particularly evident on Evil That Men Do, that could really be a lot more serious sounding and hard. I will give a nod to The Pros, but nearly everything else is too muddy processed beats.

Rätt tråkigt tbh

Me ha gustado como todo el rap de esos años, pero no lo veo como un disco especial. La única canción que me he guardado ha sido "Mama gave birth to the soul children"

Not for me.

5/10 Bien commencer, mais devient répétitif et générique. The Pros est clairement le highlight

Basic

Queen of royal badness

Things I want to say to queen latifah after listening to this: 1. Your name is queen latifah 2. You know how to spell 3. You like to make rhymes and are good at it and people should tell you that so you don't have to as much.

There was an awful lot of introducing herself for being a Queen. The kids song was weird. Not my jam.

I’ll be honest, once the babies made an appearance during the second song(!) I was out. What little I heard wasn’t terrible, though.

While I like Queen Latifah's vibes and give her major props for breaking into this male dominated genre, the music itself just didn't grab my attention - the beats seemed repetitive and the lyrics clunky

Good beats but it felt really unpolished. Ladies First was the highlight for sure. It felt like a more complete song than others on the album.

If I hear about the 45 king one more time i'm gonna lose it. Mostly basic rapping and beats. I'll be honest I really don't think her rapping is anywhere near good, but it does have a certain charm to it. De la Soul is featured on the 2nd song and it would be good, but instead it's fucking trashed on by an insanely long outro with someone pretending to be a baby with an ungodly outdated voice filter that sounds like complete shit. It's just not worth listening to today, it's really not. So much music outclasses this. I do appreciate the forward thinking lyrics and some of it is pretty fun and charming but it's aged decently poorly. Score: 40 Art: 60

Listened to the version with different mixes at the end. It was fine, but not really my cup of tea. + Come Into My House

This woman spent 45 minutes telling us a) She’s a Queen (but sometimes a Princess of the Posse?) and B) Her name be Latifah! 2 stars

She's better than the Digital Undergrounds and Salt-n-Pepas of the world, but that's what I associate this sound with. And that's a bad thing. Favorite song: Wrath of my madness

the evil that men do 👌🏻 2.5

Pas passionnant, pas nul non plus. J'aurai peut être du éviter les paroles mais je savais déjà écrire son nom qu'elle épele à tout bout de champ. Hip hop très old school, un peu répétitif et basique

Bars aren’t bad but production was tacky af

Pretty dated golden age hip-hop. Ladies First is a classic, but Black Reign is the better album.

i dont think it will be good

not for me

I'm sure this sounded great at the time. It feels a bit dated and just didn't do much for me.

Highlights: "Queen of Royal Badness," "Come Into My House," "Latifah's Law" At the end of the 80s, this hip-hop album is still coming across stereotypically stiff most of the time, but there's been plenty of development; Latifah pulls out overt house and reggae, cheesy cinematic samples prescient of Wu Tang, some rap rhythms that we still hear today, and some surprising, offset rhyme schemes that you could imagine coming from Andre 3000. What really dates this more than the sounds is what passes for a progressive message; besides incessant self-promotion as emancipation, something we know all too well, Latifah's interpretation of African Zionism mostly has to do with invoking great figures of the continent's ancient history, but the celebration of femininity is sometimes at odds with it. Actually, it's worse -- explicitly subordinate, even misogynistic: "Queen Nefertiti, the Mother of civilization will rise...secondary but still necessary for reproduction..." The most backhanded compliment anyone has ever given *themselves.*

Too 1980’s hip hop for my tastes and some laughable lyrics.

Some good stuff here and there, but it gets old and starts to feel like she's out of ideas by the end.

Wow, how did this make anyone's top list? This wouldn't even make my top 50 albums of 80's rap. Not even the collaborating with De La Soul could lift this up past meh. I've seen her perform and she was fantastic, but this album has nothing special on it. I see why she had to go into movies.

When I started this I thought it just sounded like De La Soul. Then De La Soul turned up on it. It's fine, I didn't not enjoy it but I wouldn't listen to it again. Fairly generic rap/hip hop with 80s sound.

Not my thing

Like #5 Wrath of My Madness

A 'meh' album from an amazing artist and actress.

I didn't realise, but this is a proper old-skool sound. Some quite funky beats in here, and some properly weird bits. It sounds very dated which goes against it a lot, but I'm more on-board with this than I thought I would be. It's still way too much though, I gave up after 8 tracks. In small doses... it's alright.

"Give it to 'em, Queen!" Brings back memories of cross colors, guess jeans and wearing solid red Reeboks. Coincidentally those are the same memories I try to keep buried.

2/12, 17%

its okay

Has some cool beats and raps, but overall quite disappointing.

Sounds old.

Listened to on 10/20/22 2/5 Favorite song: dance for me I liked Queen Latifa much more as an actress this album was not it for me

Meh

Admittedly I went into this one with very low expectations. For starters, I don't view Queen Latifah as a prolific rapper, moreso just a TV personality and actress. Secondly, this album peaked at number six on Billboard hip hop charts? And it was #124 on Billboard top 200? Neither of those seem remarkable enough to warrant being on this list. So with that in mind, I was somewhat impressed when I first started this album. There's some good beats, albeit very obviously a product of the late 80s/early 90s, and she's got a decent flow. I can't say she goes toe-to-toe with some of the best from that era, like A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul (the latter of which was a guest on arguably the best track on the album). But eventually this album lost me. It's a lot of the same schtick: she's a female rapper and we should call her Queen. I get it. If this album had stopped at Ladies First (or shortly thereafter), I could probably give it a 3 or 4 star rating, but when it was all said and done, I was just so over this sound.

Enjoyed more than i expected to!

OK - not keeping any of it to come back to

Eh, it was alright. Instrumentals were pretty good but not a big fan of Queen Latifah's rapping.

Decent vibe, but not an album I'd likely listen to again

I generally view rap of this era pretty positively but this just wasn't it for me. Some okay beats, her rapping is certainly not bad but it didn't excite me. I understand this album was probably very important to many female MCs in particular, but I'm just not feeling it. I feel guilty giving a 2, I think it's a 2.5 as it's just okay, but I was bored more often than not.

2, boss bitch

It's OK a little light-weight. 2.5 stars

Veel hiphop doorstaat de tand des tijds maar moeizaam, dit is geen uitzondering.

Not bad at all, just not for me. I was surprised by all the horn samples (in a good way).

This has aged better than the Ice Cube album from last week, even if it feels very dated 33! years later. It's not outstanding but it is very decent in places. Could lose a few tracks and tighten the whole thing up. Ladies First a highlight.

Dance negro + Rap

mais um de rap que não é pra mim.

Meh, ihan vekkulia biittiä ens alkuun, mutta muutaman biisin jälkeen motivaatio laski kuin ruplan kurssi...

Didn't do anything for me and completely faded into the background after two or three songs.

I pledge no allegiance to such dated backing tracks.

Долбит нормально, но не моё

Good funk but fuck the rap

Franchement c'est chiant à la longue

Happy Hiphop suitable for Kinderzimmer. 2.3

4/10. I thought some scattered songs were pretty good, but didn't really like the album overall, which is always rough on these relatively long ones.

I was surprised to see Queen Latifah released her first album in the 80s. Not my favourite genre, but I didn't mind this. Liked the prominent brass in the backing tracks. 2/5.

Early De La Soul Sighting! This album compelled me to listen to some early De La Soul, which then somehow took me on a Soul II Soul dive. So I guess it has that going for it. That's just a long way of saying I prefer to Soul II Soul to Queen Latifah. You could say Queen Latifah is a better actress than she is a rapper and you wouldn't be wrong. It's perfectly OK to not like this album.

It's OK a little light-weight. 2.5 stars

Il n'y a absolument rien a retenir de cet album, je le considère comme un simple test de fidélité au generateur, qui nous propose juste derrière un album de Cat Stevens. Et un album de Cat Stevens, ça se mérite, ici en s'infligeant une heure de rap minable.

I liked a few tracks. Not gonna go back anytime soon

Coñazo hip hop

Meh

This album has all the dressings of early 90's hip-hop and proves groundbreaking for establishing the tone of the genre - especially as a female MC. That being said, the album lacks any major tracks that stick with you past the listening experience.

Very much a good example of late 80s/early 90s style of hip-hop. I'm not that into the beats/vibe personally. But the album picked up as I got into it a bit more later on. Appreciate Latifah's strong female presence in a male-dominated genre. Fav tracks: The Pros and Ladies First

Pleasantly surprised by this, don't think I ever heard a Queen Latifa song before. Cool track with De La Soul. Wouldn't say it held my attention too long after the first couple of songs though.

Interesting mix of early rap (with requisite cringe lyrics), reggae vibes, some dance/house stylings, etc. A few toe tappers, but not going to make regular rotation.

Queen Latifah is inspiring! This is the first time that I have listened to her first album and it was pretty good. She can 'rap as well as any of the other brothers' - as she lyricized in one of these songs!

all of the genres. hip hop ,dance, dub, pop, comedy acting, serious acting, talk show host. there is no end to the skills of queenie. jack of all trades master of none, it was an alright album, probably not gonna listen to it again.

Haha Queen Latifah though. I don't throw the term 'anal chaos' out often, but today it seems right.

2/5

This just doesn’t speak to me at all. I’m not genre expert but I would assume that same album done by male artist wouldn’t made its way to 1001 list.

Gash. Utter tripe.

I respect her as a person and as an artist, but I have no use for this album.

bad

Listened to a couple of tracks. That was enough.

Maybe this was great when it came out, but it felt so minimalistic. The rhymes were there but the delivery and beats just left me bored

Semi rap. Semi crap. Semi listened.

1. dance - 2 2. mama - 1 3. houze - 1 4. lauu- 1 5. uurath - 1 6. proz - 1 7. ladiez - 8. queen - 9. royal - 10. evil - 11. pozze - 12. inzide -

the beats are wack yo. and she doesn't have much to say, yo

A struggle to get through. Grating nasal American vocals, narcissistic lyrics, obnoxious beats. I'm sure other people love it but I honestly can't stand this.

Everything about Queen Latifah is so dated. This was dated the day it came out.

It just all sounded the same. First song felt like 30 minutes, I checked what is going on and I was on the fourth one. 1

Es klingt wie ein Album, das in einer Endlosschleife aus zu kurz gesampelten SP‑1200‑Loops feststeckt. Die Tracks ploppen und knistern monoton vor sich hin – wie das Zerdrücken von Luftpolsterfolie, nur ohne den Spaßfaktor.

No. Nada. 0.

Not a fan

Repetitive and uninspired. Not the kind of hip hop i love. Imho this is a bad record.

idk

Nope

doesn't really stand the test of time does it...

Queen Latifah has a great voice and I love her in Chicago, but her music is not my vibe.

I forced myself to listen to this crap. Three tracks, different parts each time, and it sounded equally stupid throughout. After that, I didn't feel like wasting any more of my time on it. 1/5

Favorite songs: Dance for Me

There are a few Queens that I would hail and bow down to. That would be the rock band Queen… Queen of Funk Chaka Khan… my dear lovely tortoiseshell cat Queenie. Not this though. Not this. The quality of this is more like something my dear Queenie cat would leave in her litter tray. Not De La Soul more De La Soiled. Corny raps and rickety botched samples that sound even more dated and terrible nowadays. Fresh Prince albums probably hold up better than this.

Uggh. I like the spirit in which she approaches the project; But that’s not nearly enough. The tracks play like a haphazard assortment of the cliches-du-jour and her lyrics are cringe-inducing. In retrospect, it’s no wonder she ended up making a career out of unmemorable CBS dramas.

p612. 1989. 1.5 stars. Badly dated, repetitive, late 80s rap. On the plus side it's not foul mouthed and has some decent samples, which just make you want to listen to the original track.

All of these songs sounded the same, and no matter how many times she tries to tell me she is a “queen” I'm not convinced she has any royal blood.

No thanks

That has not aged well at all. Mama Gave Birth was just out and out annoying, dreadful. Essentially the same approach to every song, I had had enough of her voice by track 4. Nothing to see here deadbeats, move on.

It’s not exactly fair to have to listen to this one on a weekend! I’ve never listened to Queen Latifah before, and to be honest, I knew going in that All Hail the Queen probably wouldn’t be my thing. That said, it was slightly better than I expected. It’s very much a product of its time — classic late ’80s hip hop with that dated sound — but there’s still some charm to it. I wouldn’t listen to it again, though. Favourite track: Dance for Me was okay. Least favourite track: Pretty much everything else. Album artwork: Not one I’d be hanging on the wall at home.

OMG, it's Hip-House! I'd completely forgotten about that late '80s genre that died out just a few years later. It was an odd and funny blend, but unbearable to listen to these days. And then the use of samples is so entirely late '80s/early '90s hip hop I forgot about, too. I don't know why it is on this list though, I mean, I prefer Neneh Cherry when it's been selected to introduce one of the first female rappers among the then dominated male hip hop world. Even a collaboration with De La Soul doesn't save this album, overall it's just dull and hopelessly dated which didn't stand the test of time. The only song worth noting is "The Evil That Men Do" because of its lyrics and KRS-One's involvement, so 1 star for that. 1/5

Didn't feel this was anything special.

A sound of its time indeed. Not entirely sure if 80s rap is for me. This has a real juvenile quality (which, contrary to my poor review, I do not mean in a degrading sense) that I wasn't expecting. Quite repetitive and lacking substance. After finding out Latifah was only 19 years old at the time, I do admire the brazen energy in the self-asserting lyricism, but it wasn’t anything memorable.

not my taste

Not for me

Hip Hop, 43eme album. =>1/5

Best Track - "Ladies First"

I don't really care for 80s rap flows, and I feel like the 80s were the peak of bloated albums that are twice as long as they should be, and that both of those are exemplified in this album.

I get why it’s here, but I didn’t like it, very repetitive

No va

Important messages but not my vibe

Another album of babbling full of 80's disco and hip hop beats. Not for me.

No

Rating: 0.1 Nah.

Not a rap fan