Queen Latifah facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Queen Latifah
Latifah in 2023
Born	Dana Elaine Owens (1970-03-18) March 18, 1970 (age 55) Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Rapper singer songwriter actress film producer talk show host
Years active	1988–present
Children	1
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Origin	East Orange, New Jersey, U.S. Irvington, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop progressive rap R&B soul jazz gospel dance
Instruments	Vocals
Labels	Verve A&M Interscope Motown PolyGram Tommy Boy Warner Bros. Disney

Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, singer, and actress. She has won many awards, including a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. In 2006, she became the first hip hop artist to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Latifah played Khadijah James in the TV show Living Single from 1993 to 1998. Her album Black Reign (1993) was the first by a solo female rapper to sell over 500,000 copies. It included the song "U.N.I.T.Y.", which won a Grammy Award and spoke out against violence towards women. She also starred in the movie Set It Off (1996). Later, she earned praise for her role as Matron "Mama" Morton in the musical film Chicago (2002), which earned her an Academy Award nomination.

Queen Latifah has released several albums, including The Dana Owens Album (2004), Trav'lin' Light (2007), and Persona (2009). She also had her own talk show, The Queen Latifah Show, which aired from 1999 to 2001 and again from 2013 to 2015. She has appeared in many films like Bringing Down the House (2003), Last Holiday (2006), and Girls Trip (2017). She also voiced Ellie in the Ice Age movies. In 2015, she won an Emmy Award for playing blues singer Bessie Smith in the HBO film Bessie. Since 2021, she has starred in the TV show The Equalizer.

Early Life and Growing Up

Dana Elaine Owens was born in Newark, New Jersey, on March 18, 1970. She grew up mostly in East Orange, New Jersey. Her mother, Rita Lamae, was a teacher at Irvington High School, where Latifah also went. Her father, Lancelot Amos Owens, was a police officer. Her parents divorced when she was ten years old.

Latifah was raised in the Baptist faith. She went to Catholic school in Newark and Essex Catholic Girls' High School in Irvington. She later graduated from Irvington High School. After high school, she took classes at Borough of Manhattan Community College.

She chose her stage name, Latifah, from a book of Arabic names when she was eight. In Arabic, Latifah (لطيفة) means "delicate" and "very kind." She was always tall and played as a power forward on her high school basketball team. She also performed in a school play, singing "Home" from the musical The Wiz.

Music Journey

Starting Her Music Career

Queen Latifah began her music journey by beatboxing for a hip-hop group called Ladies Fresh. She was also an early member of the Flavor Unit, a group of rappers led by producer DJ King Gemini. He made a demo recording of her rap song "Princess of the Posse."

This recording caught the attention of Dante Ross from Tommy Boy Music. He signed Latifah, and in 1989, she released her first single, "Wrath of My Madness." Later, famous artists like Ice Cube and Lil' Kim used parts of Latifah's song in their own music. Queen Latifah has a two-octave vocal range, meaning she can sing many different notes. She is known for being able to both rap and sing.

Rap and Hip-Hop Success

Latifah became famous in hip-hop for rapping about important issues for black women. Her songs talked about topics like domestic violence and relationship problems.

In 1989, when she was 19, Tommy Boy Records released her first album, All Hail the Queen. In 1992, she received a Candace Award for her work. Her song "Ladies First" with Monie Love was special because it was the first song by two female rappers who weren't in the same group. In 1993, she released Black Reign, which sold enough copies to be certified Gold. This album included the Grammy-winning song "U.N.I.T.Y." In 1998, she released her fourth hip-hop album, Order in the Court, with Motown Records. Latifah was also part of a hip-hop group called Native Tongues.

She performed in the Super Bowl XXXII halftime show, becoming the first rapper to do so.

Changing to Traditional Singing

Queen Latifah hosts LEAGUE National Awards and Recognition Luncheon in 2008.

After Order in the Court, Latifah started focusing more on singing soul music and jazz songs. In 2004, she released The Dana Owens Album, which featured soul and jazz. In 2007, she performed a live jazz concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles for over 12,400 people. She sang new versions of classic songs like "California Dreaming."

Later in 2007, Latifah released another album called Trav'lin' Light. This album was nominated for a Grammy Award. In 2009, she recorded the song "Oh, Happy Day" with the NJPAC Jubilation Choir.

Back to Hip-Hop and More Music

In 2008, Latifah mentioned she was working on another hip-hop album called All Hail the Queen II. In 2009, she released her album Persona. The song "Cue the Rain" was the first single from that album. In 2011, she sang "Who Can I Turn To" as a duet with Tony Bennett for his album Duets II. In 2012, she shared that she was working on a new album.

Acting Career

Early Roles in Film and TV

Queen Latifah started her acting career with small roles in movies like House Party 2 (1991), Juice (1992), and Jungle Fever (1991). She also appeared in two episodes of the TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and had a guest role on Hangin' with Mr. Cooper in 1993.

From 1993 to 1998, Latifah starred in the FOX sitcom Living Single, which was very popular. She also wrote and performed the show's theme song. Her real mother, Rita, played her mother on the show. Latifah appeared in the successful movie Set It Off (1996) and had a supporting role in Living Out Loud (1998). She played Thelma in the 1999 movie The Bone Collector with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. She also had her own talk show, The Queen Latifah Show, from 1999 to 2001, which was brought back in 2013. However, the show was canceled in 2014 due to lower ratings.

Becoming a Mainstream Star

Queen Latifah performing at the "Kids Inaugural: We Are the Future" concert in 2009.

Latifah became very famous after playing Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago, a musical film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role. Latifah is one of only a few hip-hop and R&B artists to be nominated for an Academy Award for acting.

In 2003, she starred with Steve Martin in Bringing Down the House, which was a big hit. She also sang a song for the movie's soundtrack. Since then, she has played many main and supporting roles in films like Scary Movie 3, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Taxi, Beauty Shop, and Hairspray. In 2006, she starred in the movie Last Holiday, which critics really liked. Also in 2006, Latifah voiced Ellie, a friendly mammoth, in the animated film Ice Age: The Meltdown.

In 2007, Latifah had great success in the movie version of the Broadway show Hairspray, where she acted, sang, and danced. The film was highly praised. Also in 2007, she played an HIV-positive woman in the film Life Support, for which she won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. On January 4, 2006, Queen Latifah received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Latifah performing God Bless America at Super Bowl XLIV in 2010.

Queen Latifah produced the 2007 film The Perfect Holiday and also starred in it. In 2008, she appeared in the comedy Mad Money with Diane Keaton. She also played in The Secret Life of Bees. In 2009, Latifah was a presenter at the 81st Academy Awards. She also hosted the 2010 People's Choice Awards and the 2010 BET Awards. She sang America the Beautiful at Super Bowl XLIV in 2010.

In 2012, she starred with Dolly Parton in Joyful Noise. In 2013, her talk show The Queen Latifah Show premiered. In 2015, Latifah was nominated for an Emmy Award for her role as Bessie Smith in the HBO film Bessie.

In 2017, MTV announced that Latifah would be an executive producer for the third season of the TV series Scream. In 2019, she played the sea witch Ursula in The Little Mermaid Live!. Critics highly praised her performance. Since 2021, she has played the main role in the CBS show The Equalizer, a new version of an old detective series.

Her Artistic Style

Queen Latifah's music often mixes hip-hop, jazz, and gospel, with elements of R&B, soul, and dance. She can sing and rap well. Some of her biggest musical influences include EPMD, KRS-One, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and Run–D.M.C.. She also looks up to blues singer Bessie Smith.

Her first album, All Hail the Queen, featured hip-hop, reggae, soulful singing, and house music. She called her music "a creative outlet... and sometimes it can become like a newspaper that people read with their ears."

Early in her career, Queen Latifah's songs were described as being focused on women and African culture. She often wore African-inspired clothes in public and in her music videos. Her strong and smart image made her one of the first rappers who could be called a feminist, even though she didn't use that word herself at the time.

Products and Endorsements

Latifah is a famous spokesperson for CoverGirl cosmetics, Curvation women's underwear, Pizza Hut, and Jenny Craig. She has her own line of makeup for women of color called the CoverGirl Queen Collection. Latifah also has a perfume line called "Queen" and "Queen of Hearts." In 2018, she became the godmother of the Carnival Cruise Lines' ship Carnival Horizon. Besides singing, Queen Latifah wrote a book about confidence and self-respect called Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman.

Personal Life and Family

Queen Latifah grew up in East Orange, New Jersey. She has also lived in Colts Neck, New Jersey, Rumson, New Jersey, and Beverly Hills, California.

In 1992, Latifah's older brother, Lancelot Jr., passed away in a motorcycle accident. She had bought the motorcycle for him. She still wears the key to the motorcycle around her neck as a reminder, and it was often seen during her performances on Living Single.

On March 21, 2018, her mother, Rita Owens, passed away after battling heart problems since 2004. Queen Latifah has a son named Rebel. In 2020, she learned on the show Finding Your Roots that her family were descendants of freed people, meaning her ancestors were not enslaved and were listed by name in the 1860 census. She also learned that her ancestor, Juggy Owens, became free on October 1, 1792.

Legacy and Impact

Music Influence

Queen Latifah is often called one of the best female rappers. She achieved huge success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Pitchfork called her the "most recognizable female rapper" of the golden era of hip hop. Music writer Steve Huey said she was "certainly not the first female rapper, but she was the first one to become a bona fide star."

Author Jessie Carney Smith called her "rap's first feminist" and "one of the few women to make a mark in the male-dominated field of rap music." Variety said she was "one of the major forerunners for women in modern hip-hop," and The Guardian called her a "pioneer of female rap."

She was the first solo female rapper to have an album, Black Reign, certified by the RIAA for selling over 500,000 copies. This success helped other talented women rappers get their music on the charts. Her breakthrough also helped put New Jersey on the hip-hop map.

Her song "Ladies First" is listed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.

Acting Influence

Vibe magazine noted her as the first female rapper to successfully move into TV and film. They called her an artist who "broke barriers and set standards" for Black women in music to follow, and named her the "First Lady of Hip-Hop." For her role in Chicago, Latifah was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first woman in hip-hop to earn an Oscar nomination.

Cultural Impact

Queen Latifah has inspired many R&B, soul, and hip-hop artists, including Eve, Da Brat, Lil' Kim, Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott, and Megan Thee Stallion. She has also influenced actors like Michael K. Williams and Vin Diesel.

Playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda said that Latifah inspired the character of Angelica Schuyler in his musical Hamilton. In 2020, Vogue editor Janelle Okwodu called her a fashion icon who "helped to start a conversation about body image that continues to this day."

Awards and Honors

Latifah at the 2023 Kennedy Center Honors.

Queen Latifah was the first female hip-hop artist to be nominated for an Oscar. In 2003, Harvard Foundation named her Artist of the Year. In 2006, she became the first hip-hop artist to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was also inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2011. Queen Latifah has sold nearly 2 million albums in the U.S.

In 2017, the American Black Film Festival gave Latifah the Entertainment Icon award. In 2018, Rutgers University gave her an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree. In 2019, Harvard University honored her with the W. E. B. Du Bois Medal for her contributions to culture. In 2023, her first album, All Hail the Queen, was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry. This made it the earliest female rap recording to be included.

She has won a Grammy Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2021, she received the BET Lifetime Achievement Award, making her the first rapper, male or female, to receive this honor.

Discography

Studio albums

• All Hail the Queen (1989)
• Nature of a Sista' (1991)
• Black Reign (1993)
• Order in the Court (1998)
• The Dana Owens Album (2004)
• Trav'lin' Light (2007)
• Persona (2009)

Tours

Queen Latifah, Jill Scott, and Erykah Badu created and owned the Sugar Water Festival Tour, LLC. All three singers toured together. They invited music duo Floetry in 2005 and singer Kelis in 2006 to open their shows. Comedian and actress Mo'Nique hosted the 2006 Sugar Water Tour.

• Sugar Water Festival (2005–06)
• Travlin' Light Tour (2007)

Filmography

Film Roles

Television Roles

Music Videos

Producer Roles

Video Games

See also

In Spanish: Queen Latifah para niños