| Black Reign | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Queen Latifah |
| Cover: | Black Reign.jpg |
| Released: | November 16, 1993 |
| Recorded: | November 1992 – September 1993 |
| Studio: |
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| Length: | 55:53 |
| Label: | Motown[2] |
| Prev Title: | Nature of a Sista |
| Prev Year: | 1991 |
| Next Title: | Order in the Court |
| Next Year: | 1998 |
Black Reign is the third studio album by American rapper Queen Latifah, released in 1993.[3] Black Reign was her most successful album up to that point, peaking at number 60 on the Billboard 200.[4] The album also peaked at number fifteen on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album sold in excess of 500,000 copies, achieving gold status.
Trouser Press wrote that Latifah "rhymes over bottom-booming jeep beats and sings to sweet soul, dancehall and, in the case of 'Winki’s Theme,' a song for her late brother, a live jazz quartet."[5] The New York Times wrote: "As one of hip-hop's true vocal virtuosos, Queen Latifah tosses off articulate, quick-changing syncopations when she raps, slipping in and out of a Jamaican accent and singing melodic choruses in a sweet, strong voice."[6]
The album was a major influence for young adult novelist Jason Reynolds,[7] who was inspired to start writing poetry when he discovered Black Reign at nine years old.[8]