Queen Latifah Preps New Rap Album, American Idol Performance

Queen Latifah will drop her ninth studio album, Persona, on July 7th.

The album’s first single, “Cue The Rain,” debuts today (May 19) on Latifah’s official site, queenlatifah.com, and is available for purchase on iTunes. In promotion of the effort, the rap vet will perform on the season finale of American Idol on Wednesday (May 20) alongside the likes of Carlos Santana, Lionel Richie, and the Black Eyed Peas.

Back in September, the rapper revealed that Dr. Dre had handled production on the album, with LL Cool J contributing significantly as well. “They pretty much did the whole album,” she said. - Devin Chanda