Queen Latifah

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rap musician; actress; businesswoman

Personal Information

Born Dana Owens, March 18, 1970, in Newark, NJ; raised in East Orange, NJ; daughter of Rita and Lance Owens.
Education: Borough of Manhattan Community College, broadcasting.

Career

Began performing in high school as human beat box in rap group Ladies Fresh; solo recording artist, 1989--; Albums include: All Hail to the Queen, Tommy Boy Music, 1989; Nature of a Sista, Tommy Boy Music, 1991; Black Reign, Motown Records, 1993; films include: Jungle Fever, 1991; Juice, 1992; House Party II, 1992; Who's The Man, 1993; My Life, 1993; Set It Off, 1996; television appearances include: In Living Color, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Arsenio, Living Single, role of Khadijah James, 1993-; Flavor Unit Management Company, founder, 1991-.

Life's Work

Queen Latifah has worked hard for her success, but not by stepping on fellow rappers on her way to the top. Latifah is known for her refusal to participate in the well-publicized feuds among various factions of rap performers. "I might rebut if somebody challenged me, but I'd make it funny, not nasty," she said in Rolling Stone. Attesting to her feelings of solidarity with other rappers, she has stated that she would rather present a united artistic front than suggest a clique fractured by in-fighting and clashing ambitions.

Applauded for her social politics as well as her gift for rhyme, Latifah seems to pursue a well-rounded image, with social commentary in its place, but entertainment firmly in the foreground. "I'd rather throw in a line or two about drugs," she has said, "just to make you think. I can have fun and still show I'm on the ball." Her music, according to Interview, borrows freely "from hip-hop, house, jazz, and reggae," all saturated by Latifah's sense of self and a pride seemingly untouched by vanity.

Latifah, whose real name is Dana Owens, was born in 1970 in Newark, New Jersey. She is the second child of Lance and Rita Owens. Rita was 18 when she gave birth to Dana. Her father was a policeman. The marriage of her parents was troubled, and the couple parted for good in 1978. Lance Owens, Sr. did, however, stay in touch with his children. Latifah's brother, Lance, Jr., was older than his sister by a year--a policeman like his father, he died in a motorcycle accident on April 26, 1992, an event which devastated Latifah.

Dana Owens became Latifah when she was about eight. A Muslim cousin gave her the nickname, which means "delicate" and "sensitive" in Arabic. Queen was later added by Latifah. She began singing in the choir of Shiloh Baptist Church in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and had her first public singing triumph when she sang a version of "Home" as one of the two Dorothys in a production of The Wiz at St. Anne's parochial school.

In her first year of high school--as a sophomore-Latifah began informal singing and rapping in the restrooms and locker rooms. In her junior year she formed a rap group, Ladies Fresh, with her friends Tangy B and Landy D in response to the formation of another young women's group. Soon the group was making appearances wherever they could. Latifah's mother, Rita Owens, was a catalyst; she was in touch with the students and the music. She invited Mark James, a local disc jockey known as D.J. Mark the 45 King, to appear at a school dance. The basement of James's parent's house in East Orange, which was equipped with electronic and recording equipment, became the hangout of Latifah and her friends. They began to call themselves Flavor Unit.

James was beginning a career as a producer and made a demo record of Queen Latifah's rap "Princess of the Posse." He gave the demo to Fred Braithwaite--Fab 5 Freddy, host of Yo! MTV Raps, who played it for Dante Ross, who worked for Tommy Boy Music at the time. Tommy Boy signed Latifah and in 1988 issued her first single, "Wrath of My Madness." Latifah made her first European tour and her first appearance at the Apollo, which was quite successful. Her first video, Dance with Me, was made in June of 1989. In October of that year the album All Hail to the Queen was released. The album led the New Music Seminar of Manhattan to give her the award of Best New Artist of 1990, and it reached sales of over a million.

While some vocal artists are never quizzed about the message of their music, rappers are often asked to philosophize about fellow musicians and ideas in rap; Latifah holds her own, but will not be made into a spokesperson. Her strength is often misinterpreted as a feminist message. Like many young women, Latifah dislikes the label "feminist," believing it carries strident overtones. "I'm not a feminist.... I'm just a proud black woman. I don't need to be labeled," she said in Interview.

Queen Latifah, usually clad in what Entertainment Weekly described as "African-print pajama suits, skull caps, and big wooden bracelets and earrings," is critical of the sexist images of women presented by some male rappers. In a rare moment of universal criticism she stated, "Those women are pretty shallow. They look like skeezers, and that's the problem. A lot of those females don't have respect for themselves. Guys are exploiting them."Dimitri Ehrlich of Interview congratulated Latifah on her positive image. "I think it's great that women you choose for your dancers have the kind of image that young people look up to." She sees materialism as one cause of the acceptance of male-dependent women, contending that "females don't respect themselves; they only think materialistically. They want money, but they don't think, I'm gonna get this money on my own. They think, I'm gonna get money from this guy." according to Interview.

Even as Latifah was beginning to earn money. she displayed an interest in investment--putting money into a delicatessen and a video store on the ground floor of the apartment in which she was living. She came to realize that there was an opening for her in record production. While she was making her own deals and making money in the process, many of her fellow rap artists were making disadvantageous recording arrangements. In 1991, She organized and became chief executive officer of Flavor Unit Records and Management Company headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. By late 1993 the company had signed 17 rap groups, including the very successful Naughty by Nature. Distribution of Flavor Unit's records was being handled by Motown, which was pressing her to move the operation to Los Angeles.

In 1993, Motown released Latifah's third album, Black Reign, which was recorded not long after the death of her brother. She dedicated Black Reign's jazz and reggae influenced "Winki's Theme" to him. She told the New York Times, "I think Black Reign is about growth, not a change in direction. It's about me reigning over tough times in my personal life and about black people reigning over their oppressors. I think it came out purer than anything I've done." Black Reign went gold--selling over 500,000 copies, and its single, "U.N.I.T.Y." earned Latifah her first Grammy Award in 1995, when she was named best rap artist. She was also honored with the Sammy Davis Jr. Award for Entertainer of the Year at the 1995 Soul Train Music Awards.

Latifah's own career was flourishing as her third album, Black Reign, came out in 1993. Her fame and presence translated into film appearances, including roles in Juice, Jungle Fever, and House Party II. She also had television appearance on such shows as Fresh Prince of Bel Air. In 1993 she accepted the role of Khadijah James in the sitcom, Living Single, which became a huge success with black audiences. The show was cancelled by the Fox-TV network at the end of the fourth season, however, popular viewer demands brought the show back. A major and unprecedented letter-writing, phone-calling, and electronic mailing campaign by fans who demanded that Fox-TV bring back the sitcom resulted in the popular show returning for its fifth season.

Despite the necessity of living in Los Angeles because of her television work, Latifah feels her base is still in New Jersey, where her mother lives, and she has a home in Wayne, New Jersey. Rita Owens is still a definite influence in her life. In addition to her teaching job, Rita serves as art director of her daughter's company.

In the early morning hours on July 16, 1995, Latifah and her bodyguard--Shawn met up with some friends Harlem's Apollo Theater to go to Latifah's house in Wayne, New Jersey. The carful of friends who were following got stuck in traffic. Latifah pulled over on New York's 125th Street to wait. As the car sat parked, two men, one with a gun, walked up to Latifah's car and shouted, "Get out or you're dead!" Although they surrendered the car, the gunman still shot Shawn, who was later rushed to Harlem Hospital, where he underwent 10 hours of surgery to repair his liver and kidney. He would later recover. Latifah picked the pair out of a police lineup, and the carjacker, Ricardo Rodriguez, was later convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison. According to People, Latifah said "I hope this is a lesson that we have to wake up and try to do something about the violence in our community."

In 1996, The movie Set It Off hit the theaters, Latifah played the role of Cleo, a lesbian bank robber who along with her three friends rob banks to make ends meet. When asked about how she felt about playing the role, Latifah tells Veronica Webb in Interview, "I wanted to do something that was completely different from who I am, and this was the role that came to me. Despite the risks, I felt that this was where I could display my talent." Latifah made the role of Cleo very believable despite the comments made by those in the black community regarding her role of a homosexual. Latifah responded to Interview by saying, "I can't base my life on what people think. Things don't change by everybody just presenting the same thing. Nobody's had more anxiety over the part than me." It is the risks like these that make Latifah a successful rapper, actress, and businesswoman.

Queen Latifah's film career really took off in 2002 when she starred as "Mama" Morton in the film version of Chicago. Latifah went through three auditions to beat out such stars as Rosie O'Donnell, Kathy Bates, and Bette Midler for the role, but she was determined to get the part. And she was widely considered to be perfect in the role. Latifah's hard work paid off. She was nominated for an Oscar, an Golden Globe, and a Screen Actor's Guild Award the following year. The role in Chicago went a long way to establishing Latifah's reputation as a mainstream actress, and from that point on she was seen in a whole slew of very different movies, all of which Latifah added a special air to.

In 2003 Latifah was named one of People magazine's 50 most beautiful people. Then in March of 2004 Latifah won an Image Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for outstanding actress for Bringing Down the House. The movie, in which Latifah stared alongside Steve Martin, was very popular, and Latifah was again highly praised for her role. It was about a woman who escapes from prison and goes to attorney Peter Sanderson's house to get him to help her prove her innocence. Jet wrote about her performance, "And Latifah indeed brings down the house in the outrageous comedy in which she stars as Charlene, a prison escapee who turns attorney Peter Sanderson's (Steve Martin) life upside down." It was also the first film produced by Flavor Unit Entertainment, Latifah's production company.

In 2004, Queen Latifah continued on her successful movie path. Over the course of the year, Latifah prepared to star in and produce several high-profile pictures, including Miramax's My Wife is a Gangster, MGM's Beauty Shop, and Paramount's Bad Girls. Variety said of the film Beauty Shop, "Queen Latifah struts her stuff with ingratiating verve in "Beauty Shop," a sunny and sassy comedy that somehow manages to breathe fresh life into familiar stereotypes and stock situations." Latifah also starred in the movie Taxi in 2004, which was released by 20th Century Fox. The comedic movie was a remake of the 1998 French film of the same name. Towards the end of 2004, Queen Latifah released the album, The Dana Owens Album. After her success in the movie Chicago, where Latifah proved she could really belt out a song, she seemed to cleave to a different sort of sound. This album was a change for Latifah, as it was less rapping and more jazzy blues and singing. She performed one of her songs off the album at the 2005 Grammys, where she was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album. She also presided at the ceremony.

The rap star, turned movie star has a number of movies that she was working on at the end of 2005. These movies include Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, Stranger Than Fiction, and Last Holiday.

Awards

Named Best New Artist of 1990 by the New Music Seminar inManhattan; named "Best Female Rapper" in the 1990 Rolling Stonereaders' poll; nominated for a Grammy Award in 1990. Won a Grammy Award in1995 for Best Rap Solo Performance for the single U.N.I.T.Y.; Soul Train Lady of Soul Award, Entertainer of the Year, 1997; People magazines 50 Most Beautiful People, 2003; NAACP Image Award, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for Bringing Down the House, 2004.

Works

Selective Discography

• All Hail the Queen, Tommy Boy, 1989.
• Nature of a Sista, Tommy Boy, 1991.
• Black Reign, Motown Records, 1993.
• The Dana Owens Album, 2004.

Further Reading

Sources

• Billboard.com, www.billboard.com/bb/releases/week_3/index.jsp, September 15, 2004.
• Ebony, January 2005, p. 130.
• Entertainment Weekly, December 28, 1990.
• Essence, April 2005, p. 61.
• Interview, May 1990, September 1996.
• Jet, February 3, 2003, p. 34; April 7, 2003, p. 58; October 11, 2004, p. 60; January 31, 2005, p. 53.
• New York Times, movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=28999, October 8, 2004.
• New York Times, http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=302684, April 1, 2005.
• Notable Black American Women, Book II, Gale Research, 1996.
• People, May 12, 2003, p. 110; October 18, 2004, p. 30, & p. 44.
• Reuters.com, www.reuters.com, January 16, 2005.
• Rolling Stone, February 22, 1990.
• USA Today, www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-03-08-naacp-awards_x.htm, March 8, 2004.
• Who's Who among African Americans, 10th edition 98/99, Gale Research, 1997.
• Variety, April 4, 2005, p. 61.

— Christine Ferran and Robert L. Johns

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Biography

One of the most prominent female hip-hoppers of the 1990s thanks to her soulful and uplifting rhymes, Queen Latifah has also crafted an increasingly successful screen presence.

Born Dana Owens in Newark, NJ, on March 18, 1970, this police officer's daughter worked at Burger King before joining the group Ladies Fresh as a human beatbox. Disgusted at the misogynistic, male-dominated rap scene, Owens adapted the moniker of Queen Latifah (meaning delicate and sensitive in Arabic) and was soon on her way to changing the way many people looked at hip hop. Soon gaining a loyal following due to her unique perspective and role model-inspiring attitude, Latifah recorded the single "Wrath of My Madness" in 1988 and the following year she released her debut album, All Hail the Queen. Making her feature debut three short years later in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever, Latifah began refining a screen persona that would be equally adept in both drama and comedy. After starring as magazine editor Khadijah James on the FOX sitcom Living Single (1993-1998) and landing increasingly prominent film roles in Set It Off (1996), Living Out Loud (1998), and The Bone Collector (1999), she was given her own personal televised outlet in the form of The Queen Latifah Show in 1999. Losing her brother in a motorcycle accident in 1995 (she still wears the motorbike's key around her neck) in addition to grieving a friend who was shot when the two were carjacked the same year, Latifah has persisted in overcoming tragedy to remain positive and creative. The talented songstress has also appeared as both the Wicked Witch of the West (1998's The Wizard of Oz) and Glenda the Good (The O.Z. in 2002), in addition to remaining an innovative and inspiring recording artist. In 2003, Latifah hit a watershed moment in her career and in the public perception of her image: she signed to portray Matron Mama Morton in Rob Marshall's bold cinematization of the Bob Fosse musical Chicago. For Latifah, the turn embodied a breakthrough to end all breakthroughs - it dramatically reshaped the artist's image from that of a hip-hop singer turned actress to that of a multitalented, one-woman powerhouse with astonishing gifts in every arena of performance - voice, drama and dance. Latifah deservedly netted an Oscar nomination for this role, but lost to Catherine Zeta-Jones, who played Velma Kelly in the same film.

Later that same year, the multifaceted singer/actress took a dramatic step down in ambition and sophistication, joining Steve Martin for the odd couple comedy Bringing Down the House. That farce tells the occasionally rollicking story of a hyper-anal white lawyer (Martin) who attempts to "hook up" with a barrister he meets online, but discovers that she is (surprise!) actually a slang-tossing black prison escapee with a mad taste for hip hop dancing (Latifah). Ironically - given the seemingly foolproof and ingenious premise - the film collapsed, thanks in no small part to an awkward and craven screenplay that fails to see the logic of its situations through to fruition, and wraps with a ludicrous denouement. The film did score with viewers, despite devastating reviews from critics across the country. (If nothing else, the picture offers the uproarious sight of Martin in hip-hop attire, and does celebrate Latifah's everpresent message of much-deserved respect for black women).

Latifah's onscreen activity skyrocketed over the following half-decade, with an average of around 5-7 roles per year. One of her most popular efforts, Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004), constitutes a sequel to the urban comedy-drama Barbershop (2002). The original picture (without Latifah in the cast) concerned the proprietors and patrons of a (mostly) all-black barbershop on the south side of Chicago, with seriocomic lead characters portrayed by Ice-T, Cedric the Entertainer and others. In the second Barbershop go-round, Latifah plays Gina, the owner of an inner-city beauty parlor who operates her business next door. Those films reached a combined total of around $143 million worldwide, thanks in no small part to a pitch-perfect demographic that flocked to both efforts without abandon. The pictures also generated a Latifah-dominated sequel, Beauty Shop (2005), devoted to the exploits of Gina, her customers, and her employees, particularly the flamboyantly gay stylist Jorge Christoph (Kevin Bacon). The movie expanded the target audience of its predecessors and upped the ante by working in WASPy female characters played by A-listers Andie MacDowell and Mena Suvari and having Gina move her shop to the more audience-friendly Atlanta. Though the picture failed to match the grosses of its predecessors, it did reel in just under $38 million worldwide. Each of the installments generated mixed reviews from critics,

Concurrent with Beauty Shop's release, Latifah signed on to collaborate with director Mark Forster and stars Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson in the comedy-fantasy Stranger than Fiction (2006). In that picture - about a man (Ferrell) who discovers he is the character in a book by a washed-up author (Thompson), and due to be killed shortly, Latifah plays Penny Escher, the "assistant" hired to end Thompson's creative block and put her back on track. Though Latifah's constituted a minor role (and, arguably, a throwaway at that), the film itself scored on all fronts, including craftsmanship, audience reactions, box office and critical response. After voicing Ellie in the CG-animated feature Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Latifah revisited cinematic song-and-dance (and reteamed with House director Adam Shankman) for the hotly-anticipated musical comedy Hairspray, based on the hit Broadway production (which was, in turn, based on the 1988 John Waters film). Latifah plays Motormouth Maybelle, in a cast that also includes Christopher Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer and an in-drag John Travolta, reprising the role originated by Divine. At about the same time, Shankman and Latifah (doubling up as executive producer and star) signed to team up for a third cinematic outing - a remake of the 1984 Carl Reiner-directed Steve Martin-Lily Tomlin comedy All of Me, set in the realm of African American politics. New Line Cinema slated the picture for a 2008 release.

Meanwhile, Latifah signed to star alongside Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes in the crime comedy Mad Money -- a remake of the British farce Hot Money (with echoes of 1976's How to Beat the High Cost of Living) about a trio of female janitors in the Federal Reserve bank who team up to rob the place blind.

In addition to music, movies, and television, Latifah also found time to author a book on self-esteem entitled Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman, and to serve as co-chairman of the Owens Scholarship Foundation, Inc., which provides assistance to academically gifted but financially underpriveleged students.

~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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For The Record...

Born Dana Owens on March 18, 1970, in Newark, NJ; daughter of Lance (a police officer) and Rita Owens (a teacher). Education: Attended Borough of Manhattan Community College. Released first rap single, "Wrath of My Madness"/ "Princess of the Posse," 1988, Tommy Boy Music; European tour and appearance at theApollo Theater, 1989; released first album, All Hail the Queen, 1989; other releases include, Nature of a Sista, Tommy Boy Music, 1991; Black Reign, Motown, 1993; Order in the Court, Motown, 1998; CEO of Flavor Unit Enter tainment Company (a recording management and pro duction company); starred in film version of Chicago, 2002; starred in Bringing Down the House, 2003. Awards: Grammy Award, Best Solo Rap Performance for "U.N.I.T.Y.," 1994; Soul Train Lady of Soul Award, Entertainer of the Year, 1997; NAACP Image Award, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for Bringing Down the House, 2004. Addresses: Publicist—PMK HBH, 650 Fifth Ave., 33rd Fl., New York, NY 10019.

Rap musician

During the late 1980s, Queen Latifah emerged as one of the most significant artists to enter the scene of rap music, and earned a reputation as one of the most vital female artists of the following decade. In a music genre largely dominated by males, Queen Latifah established herself as a pillar of female strength and developed a reputation as a role model for her generation.

Queen Latifah was born Dana Owens on March 18, 1970, in Newark, New Jersey. Her parents, Lance and Rita Owens, separated in 1978. After the breakup, Latifah lived in High Court in East Newark with her mother, a schoolteacher. She also maintained ties with her father, a police officer. At age eight, she was dubbed Latifah—from the Arabic word for delicate and sensitive—by one of her cousins of Muslim background. She embellished her nickname with the "Queen" appellation on her own.

The intellectually gifted Latifah first began singing in the choir at Shiloh Baptist Church in Bloomfield, New Jersey. She added popular music, especially rap, to her repertoire around the time she entered Irvington High School, where she also played power forward on her school's championship basketball team.

Latifah's love of rap inspired her to form a group called Ladies Fresh along with two of her friends, Tangy B and Landy D. The trio sang in talent shows and made other appearances. They eventually changed their name to Flavor Unit. The three young rappers attracted the interest of a local disc jockey and basement record producer named Mark James, which led to a contract for Latifah with Tommy Boy Music in 1988. Tommy Boy released Latifah's first single, "Wrath of My Madness," and the record proved highly successful. By the time Latifah graduated Irvington High School and entered Borough of Manhattan Community College, her first two single releases already had sold 40,000 copies.

In 1989, Latifah undertook a European tour and released her first album, All Hail the Queen, a diverse collection combining hip-hop, reggae, and jazz. The album espoused a number of socio-cultural themes including apartheid, women's rights, and poverty. All Hail the Queen sold over one million copies. During the early days of her career Latifah always sported her trademark queen's crown, wearing it at all public appearances.

In 1993, she released her first album on Motown, Black Reign, dedicated to the memory of her late brother, Lancelot H. Owens. A police officer like his father, he was killed tragically in a motorcycle accident in 1992. Every year Queen Latifah serves as co-chairperson for the Lancelot H. Owens Scholarship, a fund in memory of her brother. Established by her mother Rita, the fund gives scholarships to scholastically advanced but financially challenged youth. The incident, however, by Latifah's own admission, left her devastated.

In 1993, Latifah was harshly criticized for producing Apache's "Gangsta Bitch" release. She defended herself in classic rap rhetoric and argued that the music reflects reality and creates neither the situations nor the problems. Yet by the mid-1990s Latifah developed an association with an informal consciousness-raising rap network, the Native Tongues, involving such groups as the Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, and Tribe Called Quest. The Native Tongues maintained an outspoken stance against violence—especially in rap.

In 1998, Latifah released her second album with Motown, Order in the Court. The album included the hit single "Bananas," with Apache. Despite her youth, Latifah showed prudence and invested her earnings from early record sales. Soon she established herself as an entertainer, and as an entrepreneur as chief executive officer of Flavor Unit Management. Latifah owns the recording management firm in Jersey City, along with a partner, Shakim Compere. With Motown Records as a distribution channel, Flavor Unit Management has managed a number of rap artists and groups. Flavor Unit also acts as a film production company.

Acting Career
After achieving major success as a rapper, Latifah gained similar notoriety as an actress, mainly through her own hit television show, Living Single. Living Single aired for five years on the Fox Network, beginning in 1993. Although she found it necessary to live much of the year in Los Angeles, during the taping of the show, Latifah maintained a home in Wayne, New Jersey, and never ceased to consider New Jersey her home. Latifah also appeared on Fox's "Smart Kids" in December of 1994, a program to encourage and empower contemporary youth. She also spent two years hosting her own syndicated talk show.

Among Latifah's early movies, House Party 2 was released in 1991 and featured Martin Lawrence. While House Party 2 was widely panned, she received wide acclaim for her role as Cleo Sims, a tough lesbian bank robber, in the film Set It Off with Vivica A. Fox. Latifah also recorded with Organized Noize for the title sound track of the picture. It was the controversial nature of the role of Cleo Sims, however, that left the public-at-large to speculate impertinently about Latifah's real-life sexuality. Latifah rebuked the invaders of her privacy with a sound determination to keep such personal matters private, asserting that details of her sexuality would never be of anyone's concern but her own.

Latifah's work as an actress runs the gamut of critical approval from an artistic standpoint. Her acting talents inevitably are praised, even when a movie or an album is panned. In September of 1994 she appeared on NBC's Met Life Presents the Apollo Theatre Hall of Fame, and as a presenter at the 1994 Essence Awards. In 1997, she had a small role in the film Hoodlum, the story of Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, a Harlem gangster from the depression era. In February of 1998, she starred in Warner Brothers' Sphere with Dustin Hoffman and Sharon Stone.

Honors and Awards
In 1990, Latifah won an award as Best New Artist from the New Music Seminar of Manhattan. In April of 1994, she was nominated as solo artist of the year in the First Annual Source Hip-Hop Awards. Although she lost the award to Snoop Doggy Dogg, she came back in March of 1995 to win a Grammy award for Best Rap Solo Performance. She later won the Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for Entertainer of the Year. Latifah performed at the American Music Awards in January of 1995, and in January of 1997 she was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards, including Best Actress in a Motion Picture for her role in Set It Off.

Queen Latifah's film career took an impressive jump on the fast track in 2002 when she starred as "Mama" Morton in the film version of Chicago. Latifah went through three auditions to beat out such stars as Rosie O'Donnell, Kathy Bates, and Bette Midler for the role. However, she was determined to get the part. As the rap star explained to US Weekly, "You don't want to feel you are twisting someone's arm but I would have done it five times." Latifah's hard work paid off. She was nominated for an Oscar, an Golden Globe, and a Screen Actor's Guild Award the following year. The role in Chicago also cemented Latifah's reputation as a mainstream actress. According to Miramax studio head Harvey Weinstein, "The Queen has it all, talent, intelligence and a voice that soars. She made Chicago red-hot."

In 2003, Latifah produced and starred in Bringing Down the House with famed comedian Steve Martin. Although the film did not win over the critics, Latifah was again highly praised for her role. It was also the first film produced by Flavor Unit Entertainment, her production company. In 2004, Queen Latifah continued on her path of success. Over the course of the year, Latifah prepared to star in and produce several high-profile pictures, including Miramax's My Wife is a Gangster, MGM's Beauty Shop, and Paramount's Bad Girls. Towards the end of 2004, Queen Latifah planned to release two new albums. One is a rap record which will feature performances by Missy Elliot and several up-and-coming Flavor Unit artists, and the other is a jazz-influenced collection of original songs and classics covered by Queen Latifah. Latifah's roles in 1998's Living Out Loud and 2002's Chicago both flashed her vocal prowess, which she will now have an opportunity to showcase on this anticipated recording. Queen Latifah may be a Queen solely in title, but her many talents continue to make her a royal figure in the world of entertainment.

Selected discography

Singles
"Wrath of My Madness," Tommy Boy Music, 1988.
"Dance for Me,"/"Inside Out," Tommy Boy Music.
"U.N.I.T.Y.," Motown, 1994

Albums
All Hail the Queen, Tommy Boy Music, 1989.
Nature of a Sista, Tommy Boy Music, 1991.
Black Reign, Motown, 1993.
Order in the Court, Motown, 1998.
She's A Queen: A Collection of Hits, Motown, 2002.

Sources
Periodicals
Ebony, November 2003.
Entertainment Weekly, September 4, 1992; March 7, 2003.
Essence, May 1, 1995.
New York Beacon, March 26 1997.
New York Daily News, March 2, 2003; March 7, 2003; March 10, 2003; October 16, 2003; February 22, 2004.
New York Post, February 15, 2004.
New York Sun, March 1, 2003.
New York Times, December 16, 2003.
US Weekly, March 17, 2003.
USA Today, March 6, 2003; April 4, 2003.
Variety, November 3, 2003.
Wall Street Journal, March 7, 2003.
Women's Wear Daily, January 26, 2004.

Online
"Queen Latifah," All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.com (March 1, 2004).

• Genres: Rap

Biography

Queen Latifah was certainly not the first female rapper, but she was the first one to become a bona fide star. She had more charisma than her predecessors, and her strong, intelligent, no-nonsense persona made her arguably the first MC who could properly be described as feminist. Her third album, Black Reign, was the first album by a female MC ever to go gold, a commercial breakthrough that paved the way for a talented crew of women rappers to make their own way onto the charts as the '90s progressed. Latifah herself soon branched out into other media, appearing in movies and sitcoms and even hosting her own talk show. Yet even with all the time she spent away from recording, she remained perhaps the most recognizable woman in hip-hop, with a level of respect that bordered on iconic status.

Queen Latifah was born Dana Owens in Newark, NJ, on March 18, 1970; her Muslim cousin gave her the nickname Latifah -- an Arabic word meaning "delicate" or "sensitive" -- when she was eight. As a youngster, she starred in her high school's production of The Wiz, and began rapping in high school with a group called Ladies Fresh, in which she also served as a human beatbox. In college, she adopted the name Queen Latifah and hooked up with Afrika Bambaataa's Native Tongues collective, which sought to bring a more positive, Afrocentric consciousness to hip-hop. She recorded a demo that landed her a record deal with Tommy Boy, and released her first single, "Wrath of My Madness," in 1988; it was followed by "Dance for Me." In 1989, Latifah's full-length debut, All Hail the Queen, was released to strongly favorable reviews, and the classic single "Ladies First" broke her to the hip-hop audience. In addition to tough-minded hip-hop, the album also found Latifah dabbling in R&B, reggae, and house, and duetting with KRS-One and De La Soul. It sold very well, climbing into the Top Ten of the R&B album charts. Latifah quickly started a management company, Flavor Unit Entertainment, and was responsible for discovering Naughty by Nature. Her 1991 sophomore album, the lighter Nature of a Sista, wasn't quite as popular, and when her contract with Tommy Boy was up, the label elected not to re-sign her. Unfortunately, things got worse from there -- she was the victim of a carjacking, and her brother Lance perished in a motorcycle accident.

Latifah emerged with a new sense of purpose and secured a deal with Motown, which issued Black Reign in 1993. Dedicated to her brother, it became her most popular album, eventually going gold; it also featured her biggest hit single, "U.N.I.T.Y.," which hit the R&B Top Ten and won a Grammy for Best Solo Rap Performance. By this point, Latifah had already begun her acting career, appearing in Jungle Fever, House Party 2, and Juice, as well as the TV series The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. In 1993, she was tabbed to co-star in the Fox comedy series Living Single, which ran until 1997; during that period, acting was her primary focus, and she also co-starred as a bank robber in the 1996 film Set It Off. That same year, Latifah was pulled over for speeding and was arrested when a loaded gun and marijuana were discovered in her vehicle; she pled guilty to the charges and was fined.

After Living Single was canceled in 1997, Latifah returned to the recording studio and finally began work on her fourth album. Order in the Court was released in 1998 and found her playing up the R&B elements of her sound in a manner that led some critics to draw comparisons to Missy Elliott; she took more sung vocals, and also duetted with Faith Evans and the Fugees' Pras. The album sold respectably well on the strength of the singles "Bananas (Who You Gonna Call?)" and "Paper." The same year, she appeared in the films Sphere and Living Out Loud, singing several jazz standards in the latter. The Queen Latifah Show, a daytime talk show, debuted in 1999 and ran in syndication until 2001. In November 2002, Latifah ran afoul of the law again; she was pulled over by police and failed a sobriety test, and was placed on three years' probation after pleading guilty to DUI charges. However, this mishap was somewhat overshadowed by her performance in the acclaimed movie musical Chicago, which garnered her Best Supporting Actress nominations from both the Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes.

In 2004, she released The Dana Owens Album, a diverse collection of covers and interpretations -- from Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band's "Hard Times" to Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" -- that highlighted her singing skills rather than her rapping. Trav'lin' Light followed with a similar format in 2007, ranging from the Pointer Sisters to Shirley Horn, with guest appearances from Joe Sample, George Duke, Erykah Badu, and Jill Scott. During the years between the releases, she acted in several movies, including Taxi, Beauty Shop, Last Holiday, and Hairspray. In 2009, she released the star-studded Persona, a pop-flavored album produced by Cool & Dre. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi

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