Queen Latifah

Dana Elaine Owens born March 18 1970 known professionally as Queen Latifah is an American rapper actress and singer Born in Newark New Jersey she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album All Hail the Queen 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 RIAA certification and spawned the single UNITY which was influential in raising awareness of violence against women and the objectification of Black female sexuality The record won a Grammy Award and peaked at No 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 She then starred in the lead role of Set It Off 1996 and released her fourth album Order in the Court on June 16 1998 with Motown Records Latifah garnered acclaim with her role of Matron Mama Morton in the musical film Chicago 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 Travlin 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 coproduced winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie From 2016 to 2019 she starred as Carlotta Brown in the musical drama series Star In 2020 she portrayed Hattie McDaniel in the miniseries Hollywood Queen Latifah has been referred to as the Queen of Rap by several media articles as well as raps first feminist Latifah became the first hip hop artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 2006 Latifahs work in music film and television has earned her a Grammy Award an Emmy Award a Golden Globe Award three Screen Actors Guild Awards two NAACP Image Awards and an Academy Award nomination Description above from the Wikipedia article Queen Latifah licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia