Queen Latifah Becomes The First Female Rapper To Be Inducted Into The Library Of Congress

Veteran rapper and actress, Queen Latifah, has become the first-ever female Hip hop artiste to join the National Recording Registry with the induction of her debut album All Hail the Queen into the Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress is America’s oldest federal cultural institution and one of the largest research libraries in the world tasked with conserving collections ranging in subject and format and geographically boundless. It houses research materials from all parts of the world in more than 470 languages.

It is also the parent institution of the National Recording Registry which comprises a list of sound recordings that are culturally, historically or aesthetically pleasing and inform or reflect life in the United States. Recordings that meet the criteria for preservation are selected annually by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress.

On Wednesday April 12, Queen Latifah and a host of artistes including Madonna, Mariah Carey, Koji Kondo and Daddy Yankee among others were inducted into the Library of Congress via the National Recording Registry.

The NRR revealed that Queen Latifah’s inclusion was because of how “her album showed rap could cross genres including reggae, hip-hop, house, and jazz – while also opening opportunities for other female rappers.”

A true multi-hyphenate, Queen Latifah won the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance for her track Go Head in 1995 and has delivered seven studio albums to date. She’s also starred in several films including the 1996 classic Set It Off and the 2003 comedy Bringing Down the House with Steve Martin.

Several female artistes have cited her as an inspiration, one notably being Lizzo who recently opened up about Queen Latifah’s influence on her music career during her childhood years.

In an interview with Canadian interviewer and musician Nardwuar, Lizzo stated, “Queen Latifah is like the first person that I saw in media that looked like me — I mean literally to the point people where people were like, ‘You look like Queen Latifah,’ when I was a kid.” It is unsurprising to see Queen Latifah get inducted into the Library of Congress and deservedly so!