Rapper, record producer, actress. Born Dana Owens, on March 18, 1970, in Newark, New Jersey. The second child of Lance and Rita Owens, she is best known for her social politics as well as her gift for rhyme. When she was eight years old, a Muslim cousin gave her the nickname Latifa, which means delicate and sensitive in Arabic. Latifa began singing in the choir of Shiloh Baptist Church in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and had her first public singing triumph when she sang a version of "Home" as one of the two Dorothys in a production of The Wizard of Oz at St. Anne's parochial school.

In her first year of high school, Latifah began informal singing and rapping in the restrooms and locker rooms. In her junior year she formed a rap group, Ladies Fresh, with her friends Tangy B and Landy D in response to the formation of another young women's group. Soon the group was making appearances wherever they could. Latifah's mother was a catalyst; she was in touch with the students and the music. She invited Mark James, a local disc jockey known as D.J. Mark the 45 King, to appear at a school dance. The basement of James's parent's house in East Orange, which was equipped with electronic and recording equipment, became the hangout of Latifah and her friends. They began to call themselves Flavor Unit.

James was beginning a career as a producer and made a demo record of Queen Latifah's rap Princess of the Posse. He gave the demo to the host of Yo! MTV Raps Fred Braithwaite (professionally known as Fab 5 Freddy). The recording captured the attention of Tommy Boy Music employee Dante Ross, who immediately signed Latifah and in 1988 issued her first single, "Wrath of My Madness." The track met with a positive response and afforded her the opportunity to launch a European tour and to perform at the Harlem's famed Apollo Theater. In 1989, Latifa released the album All Hail to the Queen, which sold over one million copies.

As she began to earn money, Latifa displayed an interest in investment—putting money into a delicatessen and a video store on the ground floor of the apartment in which she was living. She came to realize that there was an opening for her in record production. In 1991, she organized and became chief executive officer of Flavor Unit Records and Management Company headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. By late 1993, the company had signed 17 rap groups, including the very successful Naughty by Nature. In 1993, Latifa recorded a jazz and reggae influenced album titled Black Reign. While the album sold over 500,000 copies, the single “U.N.I.T.Y." earned Latifah her first Grammy Award in 1995.

Shortly after, Latifa's fame translated into film appearances, including roles in Juice, Spike Lee's Jungle Fever (both 1991), House Party II (1992), and Set It Off (1996), in which she starred as a lesbian bank robber. She also found success in television work, most notably in the sitcom, Living Single. Most recently, Latifa appeared with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie in The Bone Collector(1999). She currently hosts her own self-titled television talk show.



1989 All Hail the QueenAlbums 1991 Nature of a SistaAlbums 1991 Jungle FeverFilms 1991 House Party 2Films 1992 JuiceFilms 1993 My LifeFilms 1993 Who's the Man?Films 1993 Black ReignAlbums 1996 Set It OffFilms 1996 Queen Latifa & Original Flava UnitAlbums 1997 HoodlumFilms 1998 Order in the CourtAlbums 1998 SphereFilms 1998 Living Out LoudFilms 1998 The Wizard of OzFilms 1999 The Bone CollectorFilms