Lynise Walters, better known by her stage nameQueen Pen, is an American rapper. Her music career started as a protégé of Teddy Riley, a record producer and member of the R&B group Blackstreet in the mid-1990s. Although not being listed on the song, she, alongside Dr. Dre, was a featured artist on Blackstreet's 1996 hit, "No Diggity". She signed to Riley's Lil' Man label, and released My Melody, her solo debut album, produced by Riley. Her first album produced the charting singles "All My Love", "Man Behind the Music", and "Party Ain't a Party". Queen Pen earned a 1998 Soul Train nomination for Best New Artist. She also gained notice from her song "Girlfriend" featuring Meshell Ndegeocello, where she explored same-sex affairs. She took a three-year hiatus from rapping, and returned with Conversations with Queen, her second album. She is now a novelist. Her sons Donlynn and Quintion Walters are also rappers who go by the stage names of Nefu Da Don and Q Nhannaz.
Personal life
After the release of the controversial single "Girlfriend", dealing with lesbian themes that were often taboo in the hip-hop community, some media sources presumed Queen Pen to be an openly gay or bisexual woman. During the song's release, Pen remained coy about her sexuality and would not disclose it unless it was going to be a "front page" story. She also added that if she told the press she was straight, she would be viewed as a liar; in turn, if she were to say she was gay, she would be viewed as someone trying to get publicity. In 2001, Pen officially disclosed to the press that she was neither gay nor bisexual.
In 1998, a dispute between Foxy Brown and Queen Pen developed over Pen's controversial lesbian-themed single "Girlfriend". Brown, who took offense of the song's subject, spewed homophobic remarks to both Pen and former rival Queen Latifah via her diss record "10% Dis". In response, Pen reportedly stepped to Brown barefoot in the lobby of Nevada's Reno Hilton during the Impact Music Convention and tried to slap and chase her down an elevator. The fight later was broken up by producer Derek "DC" Clark & Brown's associates Noreaga and Cam'ron. However, when Foxy Brown was accompanied by ex-lover Kurupt, Queen Pen coincidentally bumped into her again; the conflict was subdued before any further physical contact played into effect. In late 1998, Brown released another diss track titled "Talk to Me", which contained more homophobic remarks to Pen and Latifah. In 2001, Pen subliminally responded to the diss track via her record "I Got Cha", in which Pen rechristened Brown as a "bum bitch", and later made remarks about her being funny and fake "like a drag queen". Although Pen insisted the song was not about Brown, she hinted "You make a record about me, I make a record about you. Sooner or later I'm going to have to punch you in your face." Shortly after the track's release, the feud began to die down, and by July 2006, both Pen and Brown reconciled and quashed the beef during an attendance at Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit.
