The album marks her ninth studio album and the first return to her rapping roots since 2003.  Latifah’s new style is a far cry from her early days in the Native Tongues hip-hop collective alongside legendary crews like A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and Black Sheep.  Unfortunately, the album also has an overproduced sound and doesn’t borrow or sample any jazz, one of Latifah’s trademarks in the past. Tracks like “Fast Cars” and “Long Ass Week” use too much auto-tune, synth and sound like most of the mainstream hip-hop and R&B songs produced today.

While a few big names like Busta Rhymes, Jadakiss and Mary J. Blige make guest appearances on the album, they don’t add to the sound. The songs “Runnin” and “Take Me Away (With You)” maintain faster club beats that are dance-worthy, but still lack the energy Latifah offered in her earlier days. While the track, “If You Want To,” guest produced by Pharell, has a light feel to it and does show off Latifah’s talent as a singer, it’s still far from inspiring.

So far 18,400 albums have been sold, putting Persona at no. 25 on the Billboard charts. This is a stark contrast to her 1989 debut album, All Hail the Queen, which placed at no. 6.

In the song “Over the Mountain” Latifah belts, “I’ve been keeping the faith all these years, keeping it hip-hop/ spreading my wings trying new things.” Persona is proof that she’s trying new things, but they don’t seem to be working.  In the same song she claims she’s never forgotten her roots. While this may be true, they feel deeply buried.