Queen Latifah seems to be getting back into music sooner than later. Although for the past couple of years she’s been focusing on acting, Latifah will be going back to where she started. Considering her last album was back in 2009, this upcoming one has been a highly anticipated release for her fans.

In a recent interview with The Blast, she said that she has been readying a release to drop “hopefully this year.” She mentioned how the upcoming project wouldn’t just be a hip hop album, but will also have some jazz influences. Latifah explained how she grew up on jazz thanks to her father’s musical preference, so this would be a way to pay respects and go back to what she originally knows.

“Somewhere along the line, that jazz gene kicked on somewhere in hip hop and I kind of immersed myself in more and more jazz,” she said. “Especially as people would sample jazz records for hip hop.”

Watch what Queen Latifah had to say below: