Queen Latifah
Birthday:
18 March 1970, Newark, New Jersey, USA
Birth Name:
Dana Elaine Owens
Height:
178 cm
Often considered hip-hop's first lady (though some would attribute that to Roxanne Shanté), the woman behind the moniker Queen Latifah was born Dana Owens on March 18th, 1970, in East Orange, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Rita (Bray), a teacher, and Lancelot Owens, Sr. She came from a police family--both her father and older brother were...
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Often considered hip-hop's first lady (though some would attribute that to Roxanne Shanté), the woman behind the moniker Queen Latifah was born Dana Owens on March 18th, 1970, in East Orange, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Rita (Bray), a teacher, and Lancelot Owens, Sr. She came from a police family--both her father and older brother were cops, which would later influence her rhyming style and life philosophy. Owens witnessed both sides of Black urban life in the USA while growing up. After a brief stint as a Burger King employee, she soon found herself making waves in the hip-hop music scene.After working as the human beat box alongside Ladies Fresh, she was just 18 years old when she originally broke through in the late 1980s with a style that picked selectively from jazz, reggae, and soul traditions, from beats produced by 'D.J. Mark the 45 King'. Her debut single, "Wrath of My Madness," was released in 1988. A year later, her debut long-player, "All Hail the Queen," enjoyed favored reviews: an old, wise head was evident on the top of her young shoulders. The former Burger King employee maintained her early commitment to answer the misogynist armory of some of her male counterparts and, at the same time, imparted musical good times to all genders. Her name means "delicate and sensitive" in Arabic, but she has often been anything but in her rhymes and the messages she sends out through them. One of the most prominent female hip-hop artists on the scene for over a decade, Queen Latifah has also made tremendous inroads in movies, television, and artist management, with her management company, Flavor Unit, alongside her business partner Shakim Compere. A role model who takes the responsibility to heart, Latifah carefully constructed a fine career for herself--one that is constantly moving upward. Show less «
I think it's important to create projects as an actor rather than wait for them. I love being able to take an idea and sell it to a studio.
I think it's important to create projects as an actor rather than wait for them. I love being able to take an idea and sell it to a studio.
I'm pretty much the same but trying to be better every day. I don't think the success has gone to my head. I don't think I'm alienating frie...Show more »
I'm pretty much the same but trying to be better every day. I don't think the success has gone to my head. I don't think I'm alienating friends or losing friends. Show less «
I really don't know how to be anyone else, and whenever I try to be anyone else, I fail miserably. Or I disappoint myself. It doesn't build ...Show more »
I really don't know how to be anyone else, and whenever I try to be anyone else, I fail miserably. Or I disappoint myself. It doesn't build my self-esteem, and it doesn't help me grow me at all. Show less «
I'd like to have and adopt [children]. I think I'd be a great mom, honestly. I don't think I'll have any problem giving them all the love in...Show more »
I'd like to have and adopt [children]. I think I'd be a great mom, honestly. I don't think I'll have any problem giving them all the love in the world. Discipline will be the hard part. Show less «
I wish every woman would love herself and embrace what she was given naturally.
I wish every woman would love herself and embrace what she was given naturally.
I am not one to turn down macaroni and cheese, even late at night. I love Italian food. I love pasta... A refrigerator full of water and Gat...Show more »
I am not one to turn down macaroni and cheese, even late at night. I love Italian food. I love pasta... A refrigerator full of water and Gatorade? Honey, that's just not gonna happen. Show less «
There are times you can't really see or even feel how sweet life can be. Hopefully, its mountains will be higher than its valleys are deep. ...Show more »
There are times you can't really see or even feel how sweet life can be. Hopefully, its mountains will be higher than its valleys are deep. I know things that are broken can be fixed. Take the punch if you have to, hit the canvas and then get up again. Life is worth it. Show less «
It was a very vulnerable time going from being insecure about my body and who I am to becoming comfortable with me. I had to tune out what t...Show more »
It was a very vulnerable time going from being insecure about my body and who I am to becoming comfortable with me. I had to tune out what the hell everybody else had to say about who I was. When I was able to do that, I felt free. Show less «
Dreams become reality when we put our minds to it.
Dreams become reality when we put our minds to it.
[on moving from singing to acting] My mom taught me to never put all my eggs in one basket. I figured if I wasn't the best rapper, then I sh...Show more »
[on moving from singing to acting] My mom taught me to never put all my eggs in one basket. I figured if I wasn't the best rapper, then I shouldn't completely rely on rap. Show less «
[on being considered a role model] There's no way I can represent for everyone. I can't represent for all women or all big women or all blac...Show more »
[on being considered a role model] There's no way I can represent for everyone. I can't represent for all women or all big women or all black women. It's important for people not to make celebrities their source of who they should be in life. I can't take on the pressure of being perfect. Nobody is. Show less «
I don't have to really be in the 60s. Every time I hail a cab in New York, and they pass me by and pick up the white person, then I get a do...Show more »
I don't have to really be in the 60s. Every time I hail a cab in New York, and they pass me by and pick up the white person, then I get a dose of it. Or when they don't want to take you to Harlem. I grew up with that. Show less «
If my brother and I wanted money in our pockets, we had to get jobs - my first was at Burger King.
If my brother and I wanted money in our pockets, we had to get jobs - my first was at Burger King.
I don't want to be a supermodel. I want to be a role model.
I don't want to be a supermodel. I want to be a role model.
Queen Latifah's Photos
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