Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...
, she signed with
Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''
All Hail the Queen
''All Hail the Queen'' is the debut album by hip-hop artist Queen Latifah. The album was released on November 7, 1989, through Tommy Boy Records. The feminist anthem, "Ladies First" featuring Monie Love remains one of Latifah's signature songs.
...
'' on November 28, 1989, featuring the hit single "Ladies First". ''
Nature of a Sista''' (1991) was her second and final album with Tommy Boy Records.
Latifah starred as Khadijah James on the
Fox sitcom ''
Living Single'' from 1993 to 1998. Her third album, ''
Black Reign'' (1993), became the first album by a solo female rapper to receive a gold certification from the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),
and spawned the single "
U.N.I.T.Y.", which was influential in raising awareness of violence against women and the objectification of Black female sexuality. The track reached the
top 40 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, and won a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
. She then starred in the lead role of ''
Set It Off'' (1996) and released her fourth album, ''
Order in the Court
''Order in the Court'' is the fourth studio album by the American hip-hop artist and actress Queen Latifah. The album was released on June 16, 1998, by Motown Records and would be Latifah's last album with Motown. Partly dedicated to The Notori ...
'', on June 16, 1998, with
Motown Records. Latifah garnered acclaim with her role of Matron "Mama" Morton in the musical film ''
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
'' (2002), receiving a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Latifah released her fifth album ''
The Dana Owens Album'' in 2004. In 2007 and 2009, she released two more studio albums – ''
Trav'lin' Light'' and ''
Persona''. She created the daytime talk show ''
The Queen Latifah Show'', which ran from 1999 to 2001, and again from 2013 to 2015, in syndication. She has appeared in a number of films, such as ''
Bringing Down the House'' (2003), ''
Taxi'' (2004), ''
Barbershop 2: Back in Business'' (2005), ''
Beauty Shop'' (2005), ''
Last Holiday'' (2006), ''
Hairspray'' (2007), ''
Joyful Noise'' (2012), ''
22 Jump Street'' (2014) and ''
Girls Trip'' (2017) and provided voice work in the ''
Ice Age'' film series. Latifah received critical acclaim for her portrayal of blues singer
Bessie Smith in the
HBO film ''
Bessie'' (2015), which she co-produced, winning the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie. From 2016 to 2019, she starred as Carlotta Brown in the musical drama series ''
Star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
''. In 2020, she portrayed
Hattie McDaniel in the miniseries ''
Hollywood''. Since 2021, she has held the lead role on
CBS' revival of the action drama ''
The Equalizer''.
Noted for her work in music, film and television, Latifah has earned a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
, an
Emmy Award, a
Golden Globe Award, three
Screen Actors Guild Awards, two
NAACP Image Awards, and has been nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
. In 2006, she became the first hip hop artist to receive a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Early life
Dana Elaine Owens was born in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...
, on March 18, 1970, and lived primarily in
East Orange, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Rita Lamae (née Bray; d. 2018), a teacher at
Irvington High School (Latifah's
alma mater), and Lancelot Amos Owens, a police officer. Her parents divorced when Latifah was ten.
Latifah was raised in the
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...
faith. She attended
Catholic school in Newark, New Jersey
and Essex Catholic Girls' High School in Irvington, but graduated from Irvington High School.
[Stated in interview on '' Inside the Actors Studio'', 2006] After high school, Queen Latifah attended classes at
Borough of Manhattan Community College.
She found her stage name, ''Latifah'' ( ''laţīfa''), meaning "delicate" and "very kind" in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
, in a book of Arabic names when she was eight.
Always tall, the Latifah was a
power forward on her high school basketball team. She performed the number "
Home" from the musical ''
The Wiz'' in a grammar school play.
Music career
1988–1989: Career beginnings
She began
beat boxing for the hip-hop group Ladies Fresh and was an original member of the
Flavor Unit, which, at that time, was a crew of
MCs grouped around producer DJ King Gemini, who made a demo recording of Queen Latifah's rap Princess of the Posse. He gave the recording to
Fab 5 Freddy, the host of ''Yo! MTV Raps''. The song got the attention of Tommy Boy Music employee
Dante Ross, who signed Latifah and in 1989 issued her first single, "Wrath of My Madness". More recent artists, like
Ice Cube and
Lil' Kim, would go on to sample Latifah's track in their songs, "Wrath of Kim's Madness" and "You Can't Play With My Yo-Yo" in later years. Latifah has a two-octave vocal range.
She is considered a contralto, having the ability to both rap and sing.
1989–2002: Rap and hip-hop
Latifah made her mark in hip-hop by rapping about issues surrounding being a black woman. Her songs covered topics including
domestic violence, harassment on the streets, and relationship problems.
Freddy helped Latifah sign with
Tommy Boy Records, which released Latifah's first album ''
All Hail the Queen
''All Hail the Queen'' is the debut album by hip-hop artist Queen Latifah. The album was released on November 7, 1989, through Tommy Boy Records. The feminist anthem, "Ladies First" featuring Monie Love remains one of Latifah's signature songs.
...
'' in 1989, when she was nineteen.
That year, she appeared as Referee on the UK label Music of Life album ''1989The Hustlers Convention (live)''. She received a
Candace Award from the
National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1992.
The single "Ladies First" featuring
Monie Love became the first collaborative track by two female rappers not in a group.
In 1993, she released the album ''
Black Reign'', which was certified Gold in the United States and produced the Grammy Award-winning song "
U.N.I.T.Y." In 1998, co-produced by Ro Smith, now CEO of Def Ro Inc., she released her fourth hip-hop album ''
Order in the Court
''Order in the Court'' is the fourth studio album by the American hip-hop artist and actress Queen Latifah. The album was released on June 16, 1998, by Motown Records and would be Latifah's last album with Motown. Partly dedicated to The Notori ...
'', which was released by
Motown Records. Latifah was also a member of the hip-hop collective
Native Tongues
The Native Tongues were a collective of late 1980s and early 1990s hip-hop artists known for their positive-minded, good-natured Afrocentric lyrics, and for pioneering the use of eclectic sampling and jazz-influenced beats. Its principal mem ...
.
Latifah performed in the
Super Bowl XXXII halftime show, making her the first rapper to do so.
2003–2009: Change to traditional singing
After ''Order in the Court'', Latifah shifted primarily to singing soul music and jazz standards, which she had used sparingly in her previous hip-hop-oriented records. In 2004, she released the
soul/jazz standards ''
The Dana Owens Album''. On July 11, 2007, Latifah sang at the famed
Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles as the headlining act in a live
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
concert. In front of a crowd of more than 12,400, she was backed by a 10-piece live orchestra and three backup vocalists, which was billed as the Queen Latifah Orchestra. Latifah performed new arrangements of standards including "
California Dreaming
"California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 196 ...
", first made popular by 1960s icons
the Mamas & the Papas. Later in 2007, Latifah released an album titled ''
Trav'lin' Light''.
Jill Scott,
Erykah Badu,
Joe Sample,
George Duke,
Christian McBride, and
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...
made guest appearances. It was nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album" category.
In 2009, Latifah, along with the
NJPAC
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), in downtown Newark, New Jersey, United States, is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Home to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO), more than nine million visitors ...
Jubilation Choir, recorded the title track on the album ''
Oh, Happy Day: An All-Star Music Celebration'', covering the
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...
that the
Edwin Hawkins Singers
Edwin Reuben Hawkins (August 19, 1943 – January 15, 2018) was an American gospel musician, pianist, choir master, composer, and arranger. He was one of the originators of the urban contemporary gospel sound. He (as leader of the Edwin Hawkins ...
made popular in 1969.
2008–present: Return to hip-hop
In 2008, Latifah was asked if she would make another hip-hop album. She was quoted stating that the album was done already and it would be called ''All Hail the Queen II''. The following year, in 2009, she released her album ''
Persona''. The song "Cue the Rain" was released as the album's lead single. 2011 saw Queen Latifah sing "Who Can I Turn To" in a duet with Tony Bennett for his album ''
Duets II''. In January 2012, while appearing on ''
106 & Park'' with
Dolly Parton, to promote ''
Joyful Noise'', Latifah stated that she had been working on a new album.
Film and television
1991–2001: Early career
She began her film career in supporting roles in the 1991 and 1992 films ''
House Party 2
''House Party 2'' is a 1991 American comedy film and the sequel to the 1990 film ''House Party'' released by New Line Cinema. The film returns most of the cast of the first film such as Kid 'n Play and Full Force, along with new cast members ...
'', ''
Juice'' and ''
Jungle Fever''. Moreover, she has guest starred in two episodes during the second season (1991–1992) of the
NBC hit ''
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' and had a guest role as herself on ''
Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'' in 1993. From 1993 to 1998, Latifah had a starring role on ''
Living Single'', the
FOX sitcom, which gained high ratings among black audiences; she also wrote and performed its theme music. Her mother Rita played her mother on-screen. Latifah appeared in the 1996 box-office hit, ''
Set It Off'', and had a supporting role in the
Holly Hunter film ''
Living Out Loud'' (1998). She played the role of Thelma in the 1999 movie ''
The Bone Collector'', alongside
Denzel Washington and
Angelina Jolie. She also had her own talk show, ''
The Queen Latifah Show'', from 1999 to 2001 and revamped in 2013. On January 6, 2014, ''The Queen Latifah Show'' was renewed for a second season. However, on November 21, 2014, Sony Pictures Television canceled Latifah's show due to declining ratings. Production of the series closed down, taking effect on December 18, 2014, leaving new episodes that were broadcast until March 6, 2015.
2002–present: Mainstream success
Although Latifah had previously received some critical acclaim, she gained mainstream success after being cast as Matron "Mama" Morton in ''
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
'', a musical film that won the
Academy Award for Best Picture.
Latifah herself received the nomination for
Best Supporting Actress for her role, but lost to co-star
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones (; born 25 September 1969) is a Welsh actress. Known for her versatility, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Tony Award. In 2010, she was appointed ...
.
Latifah is one of five
hip-hop/
R&B artists to receive an Academy Award nomination in an acting category. The others are
Will Smith (Best Actor, ''
Ali'', 2001, and ''
The Pursuit of Happyness'', 2006),
Jennifer Hudson (Best Supporting Actress, "
Dreamgirls", 2007),
Jamie Foxx, (Best Actor, ''
Ray
Ray may refer to:
Fish
* Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea
* Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin
Science and mathematics
* Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point
* Ray (gr ...
'', and Best Supporting Actor ''
Collateral'', both in 2004, also winning the first) and
Mary J. Blige, (Best Supporting Actress,
Mudbound.)
In 2003, she starred with
Steve Martin in the film ''
Bringing Down the House'', which was a major success at the box office.
She also recorded a song "Do Your Thing" for the soundtrack. Since then, she has had both leading and supporting roles in a multitude of films that received varied critical and box office receptions, including films such as ''
Scary Movie 3'', ''
Barbershop 2: Back in Business'', ''
Taxi'', ''
Kung Faux'', ''
Beauty Shop'', and ''
Hairspray''. In early 2006, Latifah appeared in a romantic comedy/drama entitled ''
Last Holiday''.
Film critic
Richard Roeper stated that "this is the Queen Latifah performance I've been waiting for ever since she broke into movies". Also in 2006, Latifah voiced Ellie, a friendly
mammoth, in the animated film, ''
Ice Age: The Meltdown'' (her first voice appearance in an animated film), and appeared in the drama ''
Stranger Than Fiction''.
The summer of 2007 brought Latifah triple success in the big-screen version of the Broadway smash hit ''
Hairspray'', in which she acted, sang, and danced. The film rated highly with critics. It starred, among others,
John Travolta,
Michelle Pfeiffer,
Allison Janney,
James Marsden,
Christopher Walken, and
Zac Efron. Also in 2007, she portrayed an HIV-positive woman in the film ''
Life Support'', a role for which she garnered her first
Golden Globe Award,
Screen Actors Guild Award and an
Emmy nomination. For her work, Queen Latifah received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame, on January 4, 2006, located at 6915 Hollywood Blvd.
Queen Latifah produced the 2007 film ''
The Perfect Holiday''. In addition to producing the film, Latifah starred alongside
Terrence Howard,
Morris Chestnut,
Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films ''She's All That ...
,
Charles Q. Murphy,
Jill Marie Jones, and
Faizon Love.
In 2008, Latifah appeared in the crime comedy ''
Mad Money'' opposite
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
–winner
Diane Keaton as well as
Katie Holmes and
Ted Danson. She appeared on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...
'' on October 4, 2008, as moderator
Gwen Ifill
Gwendolyn L. Ifill ( ; September 29, 1955 – November 14, 2016) was an American journalist, television newscaster, and author. In 1999, she became the first African-American woman to host a nationally televised U.S. public affairs program ...
in a comedic sketch depicting the
vice-presidential debate between then-Senator
Joe Biden and then-Governor
Sarah Palin and played in ''
The Secret Life of Bees''. In 2009, Latifah was a presenter at the
81st Academy Awards, presenting the segment honoring film professionals who had died during 2008 and singing "
I'll Be Seeing You" during the montage. Latifah spoke at
Michael Jackson's memorial service in Los Angeles. She also hosted the 2010 People's Choice Awards. Latifah sang ''America the Beautiful'' at
Super Bowl XLIV hosted in
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
, on February 7, 2010, with
Carrie Underwood. Latifah hosted the
2010 BET Awards on June 27, 2010. She starred with
Dolly Parton in ''
Joyful Noise'' (2012). In June 2011, Latifah received an honorary doctorate degree in Humane Letters from Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware. On September 16, 2013, Latifah premiered her own syndicated daytime television show titled ''
The Queen Latifah Show''. On January 26, 2014, Latifah officiated the weddings of 33 same-sex and opposite-sex couples during a performance of "
Same Love
Same may refer to:
*Sameness or identity
Places
* Same (Homer), an island mentioned by Homer in the ''Odyssey''
* Same (polis), an ancient city
* Same, East Timor, the capital of the Manufahi district
* Samé, Mali
* Same, Tanzania
* Same Dist ...
" by
Macklemore at the
56th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2015, Latifah received a Best Actress
Emmy nomination for her lead role as Bessie Smith in
''Bessie'', an HBO film which received a total of 12 Emmy nominations.
On April 26, 2017,
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
announced that Latifah will be an executive producer for the third season of the slasher television series ''
Scream''. The show will undergo a reboot with a new cast and
Brett Matthews
Brett Matthews is an American writer of comics and television shows. Matthews graduated from Wesleyan University in 1999. He was an assistant to Joss Whedon on television shows such as ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ''Angel'' and ''Firefly''. In ...
serving as show runner. In addition, Matthews, Shakim Compere and Yaneley Arty will also be credited as executive producers for the series under
Flavor Unit Entertainment
Flavor Unit Entertainment is an American entertainment company originally launched in Jersey City, New Jersey, but is now based in Miami, Florida, United States. The company was founded by Queen Latifah and Shakim Compere in 1995.
The company pr ...
.
On June 24, 2019, it was confirmed that the third season is scheduled to premiere over three nights on
VH1, starting from July 8, 2019. The third season titled ''Scream: Resurrection'' premiered on July 8, 2019.
Latifah played the sea witch
Ursula in ''
The Little Mermaid Live!
''The Wonderful World of Disney Presents The Little Mermaid Live!'', or simply ''The Little Mermaid Live!'' is a musical television special created for ABC, based on the 1989 film ''The Little Mermaid''. It is produced by Done and Dusted and di ...
''. Although the production itself was not well received, critics widely praised Latifah's performance, with ''The Hollywood Reporter'' calling her performance "the best moment of the evening".
CBS has announced a new active TV series, ''
The Equalizer'', a
reboot of
the 1980s detective series of the same name, starring Latifah in the lead role (renamed as Robyn for her version). More recently, she signed a deal with Audible.
Artistry
Latifah's music usually contains
hip-hop,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
and
gospel and has the elements of R&B, soul, and
dance. She possesses a two-octave vocal range. Queen Latifah is a
contralto, and she has the ability to rap and sing. Her biggest musical influences are
EPMD
EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is a concatenation of the members' names "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. ...
,
KRS-One,
LL Cool J,
Public Enemy, and
Run–D.M.C.
Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...
She also cites
Bessie Smith as one of her influences.
''Al Hail the Queen'' features hip-hop, reggae,
soulful back-up vocals,
boppish scatting
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...
, snappy horn back-ups, and
house music. She described the work as "a creative outlet... and sometimes it can become like a newspaper that people read with their ears."
Early in her career, Queen Latifah's lyrics were described as woman-centered and
Afrocentric. The rapper often used Afrocentric attires during public appearances and music videos, looks that became her trademark.
In 1990, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' Michelle Wallace described her art as "politically sophisticated", which "seems worlds apart from the adolescent, buffoonish sex orientation of most rap." For ''
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
'', her "strong, intelligent, no-nonsense" persona made her "arguably the first MC who could properly be described as feminist".
Queen Latifah did not identify as a feminist at the time, and expressed that her music was not exclusive for the female audience. On the topic, author
Tricia Rose
Tricia Rose (born October 18, 1962) is an American sociologist and author who pioneered scholarship on hip hop. Her studies mainly probe the intersectionality of pop music and gender. Now at Brown University, she is a professor of Africana Stud ...
wrote that Black female rappers likely did not identify with feminism
during that time because it was perceived as a movement that focused primarily on white women's issues.
Products and endorsements
Latifah is a celebrity spokesperson for
CoverGirl cosmetics, Curvation women's underwear,
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and desse ...
, and
Jenny Craig. She represents her own line of cosmetics for women of color called the CoverGirl Queen Collection. Latifah has also launched a perfume line called "Queen" and "Queen of Hearts". On May 23, 2018, Latifah was named the
godmother of
Carnival Cruise Lines' vessel
Carnival Horizon
''Carnival Horizon'' is a operated by Carnival Cruise Line. She is the 26th vessel in the Carnival fleet and is the second of Carnival's ''Vista'' class, which includes and .
The ship has a tonnage of and a capacity of 3,960 passengers. In 20 ...
. Apart from singing, Queen Latifah has written a book on confidence and self-respect called ''Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman.''
Personal life
Raised in
East Orange, New Jersey, Latifah has been a resident of
Colts Neck, New Jersey
Colts Neck Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. It is located in the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 9,957, down from the 10,142 counted in the 2010 census, i ...
;
Rumson, New Jersey; and
Beverly Hills, California.
Latifah's older brother, Lancelot Jr., was killed in 1992 in an accident involving a motorcycle that Latifah had purchased for him.
A 2006 interview revealed that Latifah still wears the key to the motorcycle around her neck,
visible throughout her performance in her sitcom ''
Living Single''. In 1995, Latifah was the victim of a
carjacking, which also resulted in the shooting of her boyfriend, Sean Moon.
In 1996, she was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and possession of a loaded handgun. In 2002, she was arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles County. She was placed on three years' probation after being convicted.
On March 21, 2018, her mother, actress Rita Owens, died due to heart failure, an issue she had been battling since 2004.
Latifah long refused to address speculation around her sexuality and personal life, telling ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in 2008 that "I don't feel like I need to share my personal life, and I don't care if people think I'm gay or not". At the
BET Awards 2021
The 21st BET Awards took place on June 27, 2021. The ceremony celebrated achievements in entertainment and honors music, sports, television, and movies. The ceremony's theme was "Year of the Black Woman" and was held in-person with a vaccinated a ...
, during her acceptance speech for the Lifetime Achievement Award, she publicly acknowledged her partner Eboni Nichols and son Rebel for the first time, ending the speech with "happy
Pride!"
In the January 2020 season 6, episode 4 of ''
Finding Your Roots'' titled "This Land Is My Land", Latifah learned that her family were descended from a line of freed Negros, since her ancestors were listed by name in the US pre-civil war census of 1860. Slaves were almost never listed by name in pre-US civil war censuses. Latifah also learned the exact date her ancestors became free: October 1, 1792, the date her second earliest ancestor, a woman named 'Jug' or Juggy Owens, was emancipated from slavery.
Feud with Foxy Brown
Disagreements between
Foxy Brown and Queen Latifah began in mid-1996, where media reports indicated that Brown was a prime target of Latifah's
diss record "Name Callin'", which was featured on the
''Set It Off'' soundtrack. In response, Brown made allegations of Latifah "checking her out" at musical events and further questioned Latifah's sexuality in various public radio interviews. In 1998, Brown released a diss record titled "10% Dis", where she continually questioned Latifah's sexuality and accused her of being jealous.
By late spring of 1998, Latifah responded to Brown through another diss record titled "Name Callin' Part II".
On the record, Latifah disses Brown about her heavy reliance on sex appeal, in which she implies that Brown has to rely on skimpy outfits to hide her "half-assed flow".
Foxy Brown retaliated via a response-diss record titled "Talk to Me", in which Brown made fun of the ratings of Latifah's
television talk show and went on to make various homophobic remarks to both Latifah and then-newcomer
Queen Pen.
A significant part of media dubbed Latifah "the winner" of the feud.
Hip-hop magazine
''Ego Trip'' stated that Latifah won the feud with her diss record "Name Callin' Part II" and added that she showed that "the lady's still first", in reference to Latifah's 1990 single, "Ladies First".
In 2000, Brown and Latifah reconciled; to prove that the truce was real, Brown performed her song "Na Na Be Like" on ''
The Queen Latifah Show''.
Legacy
Music
Often cited as one of the best female rappers, Queen Latifah achieved groundbreaking success in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and became what
''Pitchfork'' considered as the "most recognizable female rapper" of the
golden era of hip hop. ''
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
'' writer Steve Huey stated that Latifah was "certainly not the first female rapper, but she was the first one to become a bona fide star."
In the book ''
Notable Black American Women
''Notable Black American Women'' is a three-volume series by Jessie Carney Smith profiling 1,100 Black American women. The first volume, with 500 profiles, was published in 1992, the second in 1994, and the third in 2003, all by Gale. Smith spent m ...
'',
Jessie Carney Smith
Jessie Carney Smith (born September 24, 1930) is an American librarian and educator, formerly Dean of the Fisk University Library and Camille Cosby Distinguished Chair in the Humanities. She was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. degree ...
hailed her as "rap's first feminist" and "one of the few women to make a mark in the male-dominated field of rap music".
''
Variety'' called her "one of the major forerunners for women in modern hip-hop," and ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' referred to her as a "pioneer of female rap."
Throughout her career, several media publications have referred to her as the "
Queen of Rap"
including
''New York'' magazine (1990) via editor
Dinitia Smith,
as well as "Queen of Hip Hop".
Latifah became the first solo female rapper to receive a
RIAA certification for an album (''
Black Reign''), a commercial breakthrough that the ''AllMusic'' editor considered as creating a path for "a talented crew of women rappers to make their own way onto the charts as the 90s progressed".
Her breakthrough also helped place New Jersey on the hip hop map.
In 1998, she performed in the
Super Bowl XXXII halftime show, making her the first rapper to do so.
According to an ''
African American Review'' journal, her
afrocentric feminist music video for "Ladies First" presented a "televisual moment" and disrupted the continuity of sexism and racism that dominated the music videos at the time. The song was listed on the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's
500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll, and was one of the firsts texts to address the declining standards of male female relationships in community life.
Author
Tricia Rose
Tricia Rose (born October 18, 1962) is an American sociologist and author who pioneered scholarship on hip hop. Her studies mainly probe the intersectionality of pop music and gender. Now at Brown University, she is a professor of Africana Stud ...
expressed that it "offered hip-hop for the development of pro-female pro-black diasporas political consciousness."
In ''
Consequence'', Okla Jones noted that the song "
U.N.I.T.Y."—which lyrics confront slurs against women in hip-hop culture and address other types of disrespect—created a path for future female rappers to be "their authentic selves".
Acting
''Vibe'' magazine has noted her as the first female rapper to cross over into TV & film, as an artist that "broke barriers and set standards" for Black women in music to follow, and cited her as the "First Lady of Hip-Hop".
For her performance as Matron "Mama" Morton in ''
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
'', Latifah earned a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first woman in hip hop to earn an Oscar nomination.
Cultural impact
Queen Latifah has been cited as an influence to R&B, soul, and hip-hop artists, such as
Eve,
Da Brat,
Lil' Kim,
Fugees,
Jill Scott,
Lauryn Hill,
Missy Elliott,
Remy Ma,
Ivy Queen,
Foxy Brown,
Ms. Dynamite
Niomi Arleen McLean-Daley (born 26 April 1981), better known as Ms. Dynamite, is a British singer and rapper. She is the recipient of the Mercury Music Prize, two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards.
Early years
She was born Niomi Arleen Mc ...
,
Naughty by Nature,
Rapsody,
Megan Thee Stallion, as well as actors
Michael K. Williams,
Keke Palmer,
Vin Diesel, and author
Jason Reynolds.
Playwright
Lin-Manuel Miranda has stated that Latifah inspired the portrayal of
Angelica Schuyler
Angelica Church (née Schuyler ; February 20, 1756 – March 6, 1814) was an American socialite. She was the eldest daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, and a sister of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and sister-in-law of Alexande ...
in the musical ''
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilto ...
''. In 2020, ''
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'' editor Janelle Okwodu considered her a
fashion icon that "helped to start a conversation about body image that continues to this day", crediting her among the first artists that pioneered the "climate of size inclusivity and muses of all shapes".
Accolades
Queen Latifah became the first female hip-hop recording artist to get nominated for an
Oscar. In 2003, Queen Latifah was awarded Artist of the Year by
Harvard Foundation. In 2006, Latifah became the first hip-hop artist to receive a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was also inducted into the
New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2011. In her music career, Queen Latifah has sold nearly 2 million albums in the US. ''
The Root'' ranked her at number 35 on ''The Root'' 100 list. In 2017,
American Black Film Festival honored Latifah with the Entertainment Icon award. In 2018, she received an honorary
Doctor of Fine Arts
Doctor of Fine Arts (D.F.A.) is a doctoral degree in fine arts, may be given as an honorary degree (a degree ''honoris causa'') or an earned professional degree (in the UK).
Description
Doctoral programmes leading to DFAs are of equivalent level ...
Degree by the
Rutgers University. In 2019, Harvard University awarded the
W. E. B. Du Bois
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up i ...
Medal to Queen Latifah for cultural contributions.
She is a recipient of a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
from six nominations, a
Golden Globe Award, two
Screen Actors Guild Awards from five nominations, two
NAACP Image Awards from thirteen nominations, one
Primetime Emmy Award from three nominations, and an Academy Award nomination. In 2021, she received the
BET
Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...
Lifetime Achievement Award.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
All Hail the Queen
''All Hail the Queen'' is the debut album by hip-hop artist Queen Latifah. The album was released on November 7, 1989, through Tommy Boy Records. The feminist anthem, "Ladies First" featuring Monie Love remains one of Latifah's signature songs.
...
'' (1989)
* ''
Nature of a Sista''' (1991)
* ''
Black Reign'' (1993)
* ''
Order in the Court
''Order in the Court'' is the fourth studio album by the American hip-hop artist and actress Queen Latifah. The album was released on June 16, 1998, by Motown Records and would be Latifah's last album with Motown. Partly dedicated to The Notori ...
'' (1998)
* ''
The Dana Owens Album'' (2004)
* ''
Trav'lin' Light'' (2007)
* ''
Persona'' (2009)
Tours
Latifah,
Jill Scott and
Erykah Badu joined to create and own the rights to the Sugar Water Festival Tour, LLC. All three singers toured together while inviting music duo
Floetry in 2005 and singer
Kelis in 2006 as opening acts. Comedian/actress
Mo'Nique served as host for the 2006 Sugar Water Tour.
* ''
Sugar Water Festival Tour
The Sugar Water Festival was a music festival founded by American recording artists Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah and Jill Scott. The trek played to amphitheaters and arenas in the United States during the summer of 2005 and 2006. It began in 2005 ...
'' (2005–06)
* ''Travlin' Light Tour'' (2007)
Filmography
Film
Television
Producer
Video games
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latifah, Queen
1970 births
20th-century African-American women singers
20th-century American actresses
21st-century African-American women singers
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American rappers
21st-century women rappers
A&M Records artists
Actors from East Orange, New Jersey
Actresses from Newark, New Jersey
African-American Christians
African-American actresses
African-American businesspeople
African-American female comedians
African-American female models
African-American feminists
African-American models
African-American pianists
African-American television producers
African-American women in business
African-American women rappers
African-American women singer-songwriters
American contemporary R&B singers
American cosmetics businesspeople
American dance musicians
American fashion businesspeople
American female models
American feminists
American film actresses
American gospel singers
American hip hop singers
American jazz singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul singers
American television actresses
American television talk show hosts
American voice actresses
American women comedians
American women jazz singers
American women pianists
American women rappers
American women television producers
Baptists from New Jersey
Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actress Golden Globe winners
Borough of Manhattan Community College alumni
Businesspeople from New Jersey
East Coast hip hop musicians
Feminist musicians
Feminist rappers
Grammy Award winners for rap music
Interscope Records artists
Irvington High School (New Jersey) alumni
LGBT African Americans
LGBT actresses
LGBT people from New Jersey
LGBT rappers
Living people
Motown artists
Musicians from East Orange, New Jersey
Native Tongues Posse
New Jersey Hall of Fame inductees
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Colts Neck Township, New Jersey
People from Essex County, New Jersey
People from Irvington, New Jersey
People from Rumson, New Jersey
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Rappers from New Jersey
Rappers from Newark, New Jersey
Singer-songwriters from New Jersey
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
Television producers from New Jersey
Tommy Boy Records artists
Verve Records artists