Queen+Latifah



[|Queen Latifa] was born as Dana Elaine Owens on March 18th 1970. Her mother, Rita Owens was a school teacher while her father, Lancelot Ownes was a police officer. Latifa was born in [|Newark, New Jersey]; her parents both being influencial parts of the community. With the influences of a teacher and an upholder of the law, Latifa was sure to be a succesful young woman. As an highschool student the 5'10 "star-to-be" played as the powerforward for the basketball team. Although she may seem to have a rough exterior she is actually a loving person. Her stage name (Latifa); which was given to her by her cousin at the age of 8, means delicate and gentile. While at first glance, it may seem as though Latifa's life was easy, it was not always that way. Growing up in the violent streets of New Jersey was a difficult process for Latifa. Thus, resulting in the death of her brother, sexual abuse as a child from her teenage babysitter, the shooting of a friend and Latifa being arrested for possession of a loaded handgun and marijuana. Yet, despite all of the things trying to put Latifa down, she rose above it all.



Queen Latifa always had a passion for music. She sings, raps, plays the piano and beatboxes! Latifa started of her career as a beatboxer for an all girl's group called Ladies Fresh. Her passion for music soon turned into a want to rap. In 1988, Latifa made her first single, Princess of the Posse. Soon after in 1989, Latifa was noticed and sighned to Tommy Boy Records. At the age of 19, Queen Latifa released her first album, //All Hail the Queen.// Since then, Latifa has made four other rap albums intitled: Nature of a Sista (1991), Black Reign (1993) and Order in the Court (1998); the last of which was dedicated to her brother who was killed in a voilent shooting. Queen Latifa has also been a very influncial writer and actress. She has written two books: Ladies First: Revelations of a strong woman (1999) and Queen of the Scene (2006). Latifa also starred in the hit-tv citcom Living Single which lasted for seven seasons. She has also starred in many movies such as Set it Off, Bringing Down the House, Beauty Shop, Perfect Holiday and Secret life of Bees; some of which she produced an directed.



Latifa also has had a wide variety of endorsement deals which has been a huge factor in why she is the money mogule she is today. She has multimillion contracts with major corperations such as [|Covergirl], [|Pizza Hut] and [|Jenny Craig]. She has also launched her own Covergirl line called the Covergirl Queen Collection which is for women of color and made of all natural ingredients. Latifa has also launched her own parfume line called Queen.

Queen Latifa's talents as a songstress, rapper, author and actress has gained he worldwide success. She has been recognized with awards and many other acknowledgements such as being a "certified star" by being the first female hip hop artist to have a Hollywood Star. Maya Angelou even asked her to read one of her poems when she couldnt make it to a ceremony. That is more of an acomplishment than most! Queen Latifa is an amazing woman who will never be forgotten.


 * __Work Cited__**
 * Queen Latifa**.[|Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License]; 2010. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/**Queen**_**Latifah**
 * Queen Latifa**.© Queen Latifah - Professional Website Design by DBurns Design.2010.http://www.queenlatifah.com/pages/bio
 * Queen Latifa**:Kobal Collection/Wireimage; amazon.com; Barry King/WireImage; Everett Collection; Twentieth Century FOX.2008.http://www.people.com/people/queen_latifah/biography/0,,20152575_10,00.html