Persona (Queen Latifah album)

Persona is the seventh studio album by the American entertainer Queen Latifah. It was released on August 25, 2009, by Flavor Unit Entertainment. The album marked Queen Latifah's return to hip-hop music since 2002. Persona includes a mix of Latifah rapping and singing and features guest verses by Missy Elliot, Marsha Ambrosius, Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men, Busta Rhymes, and Mary J. Blige.

Background
In 2008, Latifah was asked if she would make another hip-hop album. She was quoted saying the album was "already done" and it would be called All Hail the Queen II. It was previously stated that her return-to-hip-hop album would be titled, Negativity and Star.

It was rumoured that the album would be titled "The 'L' Word". When Latifah asked about the rumor, she stated it was her attempt to "mess with people's heads" referring to the rumors that she is lesbian.

On September 12, 2008, Rolling Stone reported that Queen Latifah was working on a new album titled, Persona. The song "Cue the Rain" was released as the album's lead single. The other singles from the album include, "Fast Car", "My Couch" and "With You".

Collaborations
Dre from production duo Cool & Dre teamed up with her for the song titled, "My Couch". Dre lent his vocals for another track titled, "Hard to Love Ya" alongside Busta Rhymes and Boyz II Men's Shawn Stockman. On July 26, 2009, on her Twitter page, Latifah revealed that the second single from the album would be "Fast Car", which included a remix with Missy Elliot and Lil' Kim.

Critical reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a rated mean out of 100 from mainstream critics, Persona received a score of 46, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Boston Globe critic Ken Capobianco that "Queen Latifah puts the torch songs aside and aims at burning up the clubs with this set of tuneful, briskly executed songs, almost exclusively produced by the superb Cool & Dre [...] For all the pleasures, Latifah sounds too guarded. She reveals more shilling for shedding pounds. More personality in Persona, please." Allison Stewart from The Washington Post noted that "Latifah is usually a towering presence capable of dominating – and redeeming – even the iffiest tracks, but she's operating at a dimmer wattage here. She seems to be observing the proceedings as much as participating, as if she were interested, but not particularly invested, in how it all turns out."

Chart performance
The album debuted at number 25 on the US Billboard 200, selling 18,000 copies in its first week. It also peaked at number three on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, becoming Queen Latifah's highest-charting album on the chart yet.

Track listing
Notes Sample credits
 * $undefined$ signifies a co-producer
 * "Cue the Rain" cotains resung lyrics from the composition "The Chain" as performed by Fleetwood Mac.
 * "People" samples from the composition "I've Been Waiting" as Dazz Band.