Zack: Well well well. What a coincidence. Here I am
listening to this album the day after Emily “saw” Queen Latifah for free at a
July 4th concert. Such irony, if irony meant something completely
different than what it actually means. I was very curious to listen to this
album because, so often, women suck at rapping. The few that have been able to
break through tend to oversexualize, seemingly as a way to blend in where a
large portion of the songs are entirely dedicated to reducing women to purely
sexual objects. But the Queen never stooped to that. Instead, she elevated
herself to the status of a queen (hence the name) and made it clear that she
didn’t need to be one of the boys since she was already better than them. Her
skills are definitely impressive, especially considering she was able to
compete with her contemporaries, which included the likes of Rakim, Big Daddy,
and KRS-One (minimally featured on All Hail). That sad, I was pretty much
underwhelmed. Recently, a coworker and I came up with our top 5 hip-hop albums
of all time. It’s hard for me not to compare any hip-hop album I listen to with
those five now that I actually was forced to think about it. It’s not even in
the ballpark. Once again, I’m forced to ask why this is here. There are only 50
or so hip-hop slots on the list. Assuming that this had to work like a quota
system, is this really one of the best 50 rap albums? Maybe 100, but 50?
Considering that those three contemporaries I mentioned earlier have a combined
0 albums, when Paid in Full, It’s a Big Daddy Thing, and Ghetto Music: The
Blueprint of Hip-Hop are obvious musts. And what about some of the artists who
got one album but could just have easily had more? Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.,
All Eyez On Me, Life After Death, The Black Album, Late Registration. The list
goes on. How about Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star or even Black on Both
Sides or The Beautiful Struggle as solo albums from those two? And then there’s
the lesser publicized stuff. Personally I would rather see When Life Gives You
Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold by Atmosphere of MF Doom’s Madvillainy (you’re
welcome, Dan). I just easily named 13 albums I would rather see of this list
than All Hail the Queen. I know we seem to go through this with every other rap
album but, I mean, come on. Sorry Queen. You’re a solid MC. But you’re not that
good.
Favorite Tracks: The Pros; Mama Gave Birth to the Soul
Children; Latifah’s Law
Emily: Every July 4th
here in Philadelphia, the city hosts the biggest free concert in the country –
the Philly 4th of July Jam. For the past few years, they’ve featured
the Roots as house band for a combination of local acts and famous performers
(with a few sets of their own in between of course since the Roots are hometown
favorites). Now, despite having lived in Philadelphia and its suburbs my entire
life, I had never attended the concert until this summer. I trekked to the
Parkway after work on July 4th with a group of friends who have been
to the concert almost every year. This year’s headliners, along with the Roots,
were Joe Jonas, Daryl Hall, Common, and none other than Queen Latifah. Queen
Latifah was probably who I looked forward to seeing most, partially because she’s
awesome and partially because I knew her debut album was coming up on the list
soon. Knowing that the featured album on the list was a rap album, I really
wanted to hear the Queen rap. Backed by the Roots, she took the stage first and…sung.
No rap from Queen Latifah, just some jazz standards and dedications to her
mother. Don’t get me wrong, she has a lovely voice, but I was really looking
forward to her going back to her roots with the Roots. Well, now I’ve listened
to Latifah rap on her 1989 debut, All Hail the Queen – and I don’t think I
missed much at the concert. Queen Latifah was one of the first commercially
successful female rappers, and I’ll give her that. However, not everything on
this album quite gelled for me. Some things worked very well, like the choices
of ‘80s dance samples coupled with feminist rap anthems (Ladies First is particularly
great). On the other hand, her lyrics at first reminded me of a female Will
Smith – delivered with passion, but clean and fairly benign – and the
production was mostly underwhelming and occasionally annoying (such as the
hyper electronic voices on Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children). Queen Latifah
definitely broke through after this album, and her career has gone nowhere but
up. Do I want to hear her rap again though? Probably not, but I’ll certainly
take some jazz standards and musicals again.
Favorite Tracks: Ladies First;
Dance for Me; Dance for Me (Ultimatum Remix)
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