Customer Reviews

All Hail the Queen [Vinyl]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's truly hard for me to remember rap music before The Queen made her debut. I had the good fortune of meeting her at an in store appearance just as this LP was first being released and I remember her being a kind, somewhat shy and very down-to-earth 18 year old with little or no ego, that was 14 years ago and the photo she autographed for me still hangs in my living room to this day, thanks Queen. "Dance For Me", "Mama Gave Birth To The Soul Children" and "Wrath Of My Madness" are my favorite Cuts here and they all remind me of a simpler, happier time in music and in my personal life. This kind of quality and creativity never grows old. This is a true Classic, regardless of genre'.
Essential Listening.

Queen Latifah Knows...this album was spectacular...it is uplifting and has good beats and anybody who has the nerve to even say a fool like 50 cent or a no talent joke like ja rule is anything better than her has nerve because she is history..she is what 50 and Ja bite off of...she is what they can't live up to...so know your history before you praise the present...but queen, you gotta represent!!

"All Hail the Queen" marks the album debut one of the entertainment world's most versatile performers. Queen Latifah has dabbled from everything from sitcoms ("Living Single"), films ("Jungle Fever"; "Set It Off") to her own talk show. However, it was the world of hip-hop/dance music that introduced the world to Latifah's rhythms.

"All Hail the Queen," was Latifah's first, and in my opinion, her best album. Tracks from "Dance for Me" to "Ladies First" showcase her quick ability to rap in a beat that is easy to comprehend. Produced by DJ Mark and the .45 King, "All Hail the Queen" is unlike any hip-hop debut, since it includes guest appearances by many of the genre's top stars including Monie Love and De La Soul, which add to he album's diverse appeal.

The best track on this album has to be the Hip-Hop/Techno classic, "Come Into My House," which is one of the first hip-hop songs to be certified a club classic. Latifah's vocals, the fast beats, and the hints of techno make this the most danceable song on this entire album. Overall, "All The Hail Queen" is a landmark album for a woman in rap/hip=hop music. Before Latifah, few women had achieved the success and fame she has gained due to her charming personality, professionalism, and her desire to be the very best she can be. It is a must-have for any hip-hop/rap listener.

In a masculine dominated genre, not many ladies of hip hop were representing especially back in 1988-1989. Salt-N-Peppa, Sweet Tee, MC Lyte, and Roxanne Shante were a few very successful female artists. When Queen Latifah came onto the scene, she was unlike anything coming out at the time. Her mix of dancehall reggae, R and B, Jazz, House, and rappin' ability became unwordly to 1988 ears. Male or female, she may be the most versatile emcee to do it. "All Hail The Queen" is her shining moment which redefined emceeing as we know it.

The opening song "Dance For Me" is a great example of her versatility blending jazz with upbeat swing over a melodic 45 King production. When the single dropped in 1989, it got many heads buzzing. It wasn't no one hit wonder fluke because "All Hail The Queen" is packed with hit material. "Mama Gave the Soul children" proved that the Queen could even step out of her comfort zone and hang with De La Souls quirky swagger. The beat sounds as if Prince Paul sampled an old Walt Disney record. To this day dancehalls swarm when "Come Into My House" plays and it somehow never feels dated despite the fact that house songs seems a thing from the past. The slow burning "The Pro's" is an underground club banger which finds Daddy-O tapping into his reggae roots.

The Queen of Royal Badness proves why she deserves the limelight on songs like "Wrath of My Madness". Her commanding delivery is assertive and her braggadocio seems sincere and brazen at the same time. However, no other song on "All Hail The Queen" captures Queen Latifah's breakout moment better than on "Ladies First". It is considered the first feminist hip hop anthem. Monie Love and the Queen sound as one mind on this record trading righteous rhymes over a funky saxaphone melody. It even got props in the Source magazine as the 55th greatest hip hop song ever made. The album ends with two amazing reggae influenced songs in the loopy bassline of "Princess of the Posse" and the laid back jazz of "Inside Out". Without question, they were excellent choices for singles.

Back in 1989, Queen Latifah was truly bringing down the house. She never really had another record that came close to her brilliance displayed on wax here. While receiving grammys and acting awards, it is shameful that her new found fanbase has overlooked this being her best work in her collection. This is truly an excellent record that is not to be missed.

Best workout album ever. This is the one that'll get you up & keep you up. If DJ Mark wasn't sampling Sly & the Family Stone (when everyone else was sampling James Brown), he might as well have been; and what another reviewer would call dancehall, I (as a longtime admirer of Scratch Perry, Big Youth, U Roy, Augustus Pablo, Scientist et hoc genus) would call deep-dish dub. All due props to Roxanne Shante and Millie Jackson, Latifah's raps were and remain a total bust-out, a landmark in women's poetry generally as well as rap specifically (not to mention the children's chorus shouting "We love you, Mommy!") The mother-huge commercial potential of this album, which should be known on a scale comparable with Bobby McFerrin, remains lamentably latent. No admirer of Lauryn Hill's "Miseducation" should be without this avant-antidote! File "All Hail the Queen" with Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full," Public Enemy's "Nation of Millions" and the Wu-Tang Clan's "36 Chambers" and ask yourself which one stands out.

From the first track to the last remix, Queen Latifah defines the term "mic control" on this album. She kicks socially conscious and lyrically impressive rhymes every time she raps. But the real treat here, however, is the production. This would be one of the last times Latifah would work with DJ Mark the 45 King, who was at his prime. All his cuts, from the searing horn riffs on "Ladies First" and "Queen of Royal Badness" to the the playful bass line of the "Princess of the Posse" remix, are top-notch. There's something here to please everyone.

This album is so good. I was listening to it while on the freeway and it was knockin'! I love the bass on this album. My favorites are "Princess Of The Posse", "Come Into My House" and "Wrath Of My Madness" has to be one of the best (Hip-Hop) party songs of all time!

Queen Latifah made a major impression on hip-hop with All Hail The Queen. She draws upon a wide variety of black and mainstream music, including jazz, reggae, house, soul and dance, and has the versatility and talent to shine in whatever genre she ventures into. She hits a musical G-spot with "Come Into My House," and "Ladies First." Nearly as strong are "Dance For Me," "Wrath of My Madness," and "Evil That Men Do," a straight hip-hop number addressing socio-economic ills. What keeps the album from being a true classic are the small but annoying handful of poor quality tracks, such as "Mama Gave Birth To The Soul Children," and "The Pros." Still, this is a strong and auspicious debut.

Well, not alone, but the Queen was one of the pioneer women of East Coast rap, and she shines here like the diva she is. "Wrath of My Madness" explains it all, and "Queen of Royal Badness" shows why mere series TV could NOT contain her mad rhyme flow! Go Queen GO!

All hail the Queen is a classic old school rap cd. when i first saw this cd up at amazon,i had to get it. this cd has great songs on it, like dance for me,come into my house a favorite that you heard at all the clubs throughout the 90's even up to this day!when you hear this cd it will take you back to a time when rap music some meaning too it,where you wanted to get up and dance and sing to. its a fun rap cd that makes you smile and think back to all of those good times that you had in your life. it is definitely worth taking a look at i highly suggest it.