"Who you callin' a bitch?" demands Queen Latifah in her song, "U. N. I. T. Y." -- and she expects an answer with respect. This performer has been many things in her life: singer, hip-hop goddess, actress, feminist, impresario. Perhaps she's...
[more]"Who you callin' a bitch?" demands Queen Latifah in her song, "U. N. I. T. Y." -- and she expects an answer with respect. This performer has been many things in her life: singer, hip-hop goddess, actress, feminist, impresario. Perhaps she's even been a bitch, but make no mistake -- all roles have been assumed on Queen Latifah's own terms. Although her persona may seem all tough feminist bravado, her name actually points to a different side -- Latifah means "delicate" and "sensitive" in Arabic. And therein lies the reason for her success: she holds her place as a pioneer in women's hip-hop with both strength and sensitivity.
Back when she was just Dana Owens, the rapper who would be Queen spent her youth living in a New Jersey housing project with her brother and divorced mother. Pegged as gifted from an early age, she showed her skills beatboxing in an all-female group called Ladies Fresh. By the time she entered a community college in Manhattan, Tommy Boy
Records had gotten its hands on her demo tape and quickly jumped to sign her. Two singles, "Wrath of My Madness" and "Dance for Me," were released in 1988.
In 1989, Queen Latifah declared her reign with the debut of a full-length album, "All Hail the Queen." It announced Latifah as the foe of all things sexist, celebrated the struggles of black women, and deflated the phallocentric showboating of the hip-hop world. Apparently the times were ripe for her message, as "All Hail the Queen" garnered both platinum sales and Grammy nominations.
In the early 1990s, Latifah attempted to widen her range with varying degress of success. She broke into acting in 1991 with a small part in "Jungle Fever," the Spike Lee film about explosive racial tensions. She also starred in a successful television sitcom "Living Single." With her strong female image, the role of a single magazine editor seemed an obvious choice, but Latifah surprised audiences when she proved she had yet another talent -- she could be funny.
1991 also saw the release of Latifah's second album, "Nature of A Sista." Like its predecessor, the work was nominated for a Grammy, but some critics felt that it did not make any inroads into serious hip-hop. The album incorporated rap with R&B vocals, a combination that was often taken less seriously. Matters were complicated by conflicts with Tommy Boy Records, and Latifah left the label in 1992.
Once signed to Motown Records, Latifah unveiled 1993's "Black Reign," a darker, more intimate album that grew from her own personal hardships -- especially the death of her brother the year before. But 1993 was also a year of beginnings, as the Queen formed her own management and recording company, Flavor Unit. Her roster was full of hip-hop respectables, including Naughty By Nature, Black Sheep, and Outkast.
After taking a five-year hiatus from music, Latifah reemerged in 1998 with her fourth album, "Order In the Court." She has also continued to put more notches on her acting belt, taking substantial roles in the films "Set It Off" (1996) and "Living Out Loud" (1998). She has returned to the small screen with mike in hand -- not to rhyme, but to rap with audiences on her own talk show. Looking back on what some have called a pretentious self-crowning, Latifah has defended herself, saying, "I stuck to my guns and it proved to be good."
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