While she has become a force in Hollywood with various acting roles and a foray into singing, Queen Latifah is getting set to pick up the mic again for a return to rap music.
Fans will have to wait until the rapper/singer/actress releases her forthcoming album Trav’lin’ Light before they hear a new rhyme.
“I’d love to make another rap album,” Latifah told Billboard.com “I have some music I’ve already been working on. But everything has to have its proper place; I don’t really want to drop the rap album while (‘Trav’lin’ Light’) is out. I really want to respect every genre for what it is, and I’d prefer to record a rap album and be out there promoting it.”
Trav’lin’ Light is Latifah’s second all-singing album.
The release, which features covers of standards and pop songs made famous by 10cc, Smokey Robinson, the Pointer Sisters and Donny Hathaway, is the follow up to the lyricists’s first vocal offering 2004’s The Dana Owens Album.
The project, which was comprised of Jazz standards, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005.
Expanding her resume, Latifah has attracted attention and critical praise in recent years for her acting with roles in Chicago, Hairspray and HBO’s Life Support.
Although she hasn’t recorded a rap album since 1998’s Order in the Court, Latifah is confident that she will have “plenty to talk about” for the upcoming project.
“I’ve always been sort of socially conscious,” she said. “For me it’s always about mixing some sort of topic with a hot beat and a good hook. Every record’s not gonna be a message record; there’ll be a good mix of party records and content records mixed with some hot music.”
Still, it may be a challenge for Latifah to find a place in the current landscape as much of today’s rap music caters to a young audience.
Nevertheless, the entertainer believes she will be able to reconnect with fans.
Queen Latifah’s new vocal album, Trav’lin’ Light, is slated to hit stores on Sept. 25.
A tour to support the release will kick off on Sept. 29 in Dallas.