"Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children" Released: 1990
All Hail the Queen is the debut studio album by American rapperQueen Latifah. The album was released on November 7, 1989, throughTommy Boy Records. Thefeminist anthem[1] "Ladies First", featuringMonie Love, remains one of Latifah's signature songs.
All Hail the Queen peaked at No. 6 on theBillboard Top Hip Hop/R&B Albums chart and at No. 124 on theBillboard 200 chart. "Wrath of My Madness" was the first single fromAll Hail the Queen, and was later sampled inYo-Yo's "You Can't Play with My Yo-Yo". "Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children" peaked at No. 14 in theUK.
The New York Times noted that "the backup tracks are sometimes rich enough to carry the album on their own, but they don't have to; some songs have vocal choruses, while in others Queen Latifah's rising and falling speech provides melody enough."[13]Newsday called the album "international ghetto music filtered through hip-hop's strongest feminist sensibility."[14]
In 2023,All Hail the Queen was inducted into theLibrary of Congress'sNational Recording Registry, based on its "cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage."[17] In their statement explaining their inclusion of the album, the Library of Congress said, "[Queen Latifah's] album showed rap could cross genres includingreggae, hip-hop,house, andjazz – while also opening opportunities for other female rappers."[18]
^"Recording Registry: 2023".National Recording Preservation Board. Library of Congress.Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. RetrievedApril 12, 2023.
^"Recording Registry: 2023".National Recording Preservation Board. Library of Congress.Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. RetrievedApril 12, 2023.
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