Queen Pen - My Melody (Interscope/BMG) With Foxxy Brown and Lil' Kim blowing up the pop hip-hop industry, Queen Pen is a breath of fresh air. Following in the footsteps of rap queens Queen Latifah and MC Lyte, Queen Pen actually addresses issues that go beyond her sexual prowess.
First heard on Blackstreet's No Diggity, Queen Pen's debut is proof that she has a flow, great rhymes and attitude.
Unfortunately, My Melody is also highly commercial. Every track is a sample. With production by Teddy Riley of Blackstreet fame and the creator of New Jack Swing - the prototype for Puff Daddy's hip-hop soul - one would have thought there would be more innovation here. Instead, Riley and Queen Pen opted to go with what would work.
And that includes sampling from Spandau Ballet's True in It's True, and Luther Vandross' Never Too Much in All My Love. There are some great dance tracks, including Party Ain't a Party and Man Behind the Music.
The most intriguing track is Girlfriend, in which she makes a strong reference to bisexuality - taboo in the rap community.
Queen Pen is one of the strongest, most articulate female voices the rap world has heard since Lauryn Hill. Hopefully she won't be swallowed up by commercialism.