Queen Latifah dusted off her mic and pressed record, and now she is ready to take her spot on the music charts.
She made her debut with “All Hail the Queen” in 1989. At the time, rap was thought of as a young man’s game and a place for women to be seen, not heard.
The female emcee defied stereotypes and represented women as more than music-video eye candy.
Her musical signature merged lyricism with singing long before Drake’s wave of melodic tunes, and she is ready to shake things up again. The “U.N.I.T.Y.” rapper’s last album, “Persona,” was released in 2009.
On the heels of hosting the 52nd American Music Awards, which aired on May 25, she left fans stunned by walking the red carpet with her 6-year-old son, Rebel.
Now, Queen Latifah has social media buzzing after teasing that a trove of records will surface before the new year.
“I do enough things that allow me to get out there and sing or rap or do shows so that people can remember. Lest they forget how I got into this game. Let me show you right quick,” she told People.
“I keep it in my back pocket at all times. But yeah, I guess it has been a minute, so probably will drop some new music this year.”
“It’s time,” she declares. “Get ready for the many genres that it will come out in.”
As for the genre, “It’ll be a mixture” of hip-hop, jazz, and soul. She previously earned praise for her jazz albums “The Dana Owens Album” in 2004 and “Trav’lin’ Light” in 2007.
The resurgence arrives two years after Queen Latifah received a Kennedy Center Honors award for breaking barriers in music, festival appearances, including Megan Thee Stallion’s 2025 Coachella set, and months before she is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
“Please release new music @IAMQUEENLATIFAH ..hip hop misses you..So..soo.. badly So so badly….smh,” wrote one fan.
Another person said, “Queen Latifah staying ready. Veteran move decades in rap, R&B, acting, and hosting means she can genuinely deliver live with minimal notice.”
An X user praised her for standing in a lane of her own. They tweeted, “Queen Latifah was making peaceful rap records in an era where everybody sounded like they were preparing for war. Different level of presence.”
Another noted, “First person to solo host both the grammys and the amas and ppl still act like she’s just an actress. 31 years since her last hosting gig tonight, that’s a flex. who else does that?!”
For many, Queen Latifah and peers like rapper MC Lyte and Salt-N-Pepa, who all rose to rap stardom during the male-dominated 90s, have been a blueprint for the female rappers who followed in their footsteps.
Queen Latifah was making peaceful rap records in an era where everybody sounded like they were preparing for war. Different level of presence. pic.twitter.com/LvlVX2JxUG
— KOPO (@KOPOROSHH) May 9, 2026
The late ’90s to 2010s saw acts like Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, and Nicki Minaj achieve mainstream success, but none quite with Queen Latifah’s longevity.
Present-day debates about female rappers being oversexualized or too vulgar in their lyrics is proof that hip-hop veterans still have a place in the landscape of GloRillas and Doechiis, who have been celebrated for carrying the rap torch.
“Artists like Lauryn , Queen Latifah, MC Lyte built brands around a certain kind of messaging self-respect, social commentary, and rejecting derogatory labels. That was a conscious artistic and cultural stance, especially in an era where women in rap had to fight hard for respect,” a fan explained.
Lauryn Hill never released a sophomore album but has remained relevant and a constant artistic reference for younger artists. MC Lyte released an LP, “1 of 1,” this year, reminding listeners that she hasn’t lost her flow since her debut album “Lyte as a Rock” in 1988 — a year before Queen Latifah’s first album.
Queen Latifah is music royalty, even with her successful career in film and television, and no one has ever lost sight of her impact.
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