Queen Latifah - All Hail the Queen

As strong a buzz as Queen Latifah created with her debut single of 1988, "Wrath of My Madness" and its reggae-influenced B-side "Princess of the Posse," one would have expected the North Jersey rapper/actress' first album, All Hail the Queen, to be much stronger. Though not a bad album by any means, it doesn't live up to Latifah's enormous potential. The CD's strongest material includes "Evil That Men Do," a hardhitting duet with KRS-One addressing Black-on-Black crime and other social ills; the infectious hip-house number "Come Into My House"; the rap/reggae duet with Stetsasonic's Daddy-O "The Pros"; and the aforementioned songs. Unfortunately, boasting numbers like "A King and Queen Creation" and "Queen of Royal Badness" aren't terribly memorable. Especially disappointing is "Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children," a duet with De La Soul that surprisingly, is both musically and lyrically generic. To be sure, Latifah's rapping skills are top-notch -- which is why All Hail the Queen should have been consistently excellent instead of merely good. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide

Name Credits "Little" Louie Vega Mixing, Producer Al Watts Engineer Bart Everly Photography Bob Coulter Mixing, Engineer C. Paul Mixing, Engineer Christopher Shaw ?, Engineer Daddy O Producer, Performer, Mixing Dan Miller Engineer, Mixing Dante Ross Production Consultant, Production Coordination De La Soul Performer Dilly d'Mus Assistant Engineer DJ Mark the 45 King Performer Dr. Jam Remixing Dr. Shane Faber Engineer, Guitar (Bass) Dwayne Sumal Engineer Howard Zucker Typography Jane Wexler Photography KRS-One Mixing, Producer Louis Vego Mixing, Producer Mike Teelucksingh Engineer Monie Love Performer Prince Paul Producer, Mixing Queen Latifah Producer, Mixing Rob Sutton Mixing Soulshock Remixing Steven Miglio Layout Design, Artwork, Design The 45 King Mixing, Performer, Producer Ultimatum Remixing