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Queen Latifah

Born in Newark, NJ

Queen Latifah's Genre:

Golden Age, Rap, Pop-Rap, Alternative Rap, Contemporary R&B, Adult Contemporary, House, R&B

Biography

Queen Latifah was certainly not the first female rapper, but she was the first one to become a bona fide star. She had more charisma than her predecessors, and her strong, intelligent, no-nonsense persona made her arguably the first MC who could properly be described as feminist. Her third album, Black Reign, was the first album by a female MC ever to go gold, a commercial breakthrough that paved the way for a talented crew of women rappers to make their own way onto the charts as the '90s progressed. Latifah herself soon branched out into other media, appearing in movies and sitcoms and even hosting her own talk show. Yet even with all the time she spent away from recording, she remained perhaps the most recognizable woman in hip-hop, with a level of respect that bordered on iconic status.

Queen Latifah was born Dana Owens in Newark, NJ, on March 18, 1970; her Muslim cousin gave her the nickname Latifah -- an Arabic word meaning "delicate" or "sensitive" -- when she was eight. As a youngster, she starred in her high school's production of The Wiz, and began rapping in high school with a group called Ladies Fresh, in which she also served as a human beatbox. In college, she adopted the name Queen Latifah and hooked up with Afrika Bambaataa's Native Tongues collective, which sought to bring a more positive, Afrocentric consciousness to hip-hop. She recorded a demo that landed her a record deal with Tommy Boy, and released her first single, "Wrath of My Madness," in 1988; it was followed by "Dance for Me." In 1989, Latifah's full-length debut, All Hail the Queen, was released to strongly favorable reviews, and the classic single "Ladies First" broke her to the hip-hop audience. In addition to tough-minded hip-hop, the album also found Latifah dabbling in R&B, reggae, and house, and duetting with KRS-One and De La Soul. It sold very well, climbing into the Top Ten of the R&B album charts. Latifah quickly started a management company, Flavor Unit Entertainment, and was responsible for discovering Naughty by Nature. Her 1991 sophomore album, the lighter Nature of a Sista, wasn't quite as popular, and when her contract with Tommy Boy was up, the label elected not to re-sign her. Unfortunately, things got worse from there -- she was the victim of a carjacking, and her brother Lance perished in a motorcycle accident.

Latifah emerged with a new sense of purpose and secured a deal with Motown, which issued Black Reign in 1993. Dedicated to her brother, it became her most popular album, eventually going gold; it also featured her biggest hit single, "U.N.I.T.Y.," which hit the R&B Top Ten and won a Grammy for Best Solo Rap Performance. By this point, Latifah had already begun her acting career, appearing in Jungle Fever, House Party 2, and Juice, as well as the TV series The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. In 1993, she was tabbed to co-star in the Fox comedy series Living Single, which ran until 1997; during that period, acting was her primary focus, and she also co-starred as a bank robber in the 1996 film Set It Off. That same year, Latifah was pulled over for speeding and was arrested when a loaded gun and marijuana were discovered in her vehicle; she pled guilty to the charges and was fined.

After Living Single was canceled in 1997, Latifah returned to the recording studio and finally began work on her fourth album. Order in the Court was released in 1998 and found her playing up the R&B elements of her sound in a manner that led some critics to draw comparisons to Missy Elliott; she took more sung vocals, and also duetted with Faith Evans and the Fugees' Pras. The album sold respectably well on the strength of the singles "Bananas (Who You Gonna Call?)" and "Paper." The same year, she appeared in the films Sphere and Living Out Loud, singing several jazz standards in the latter. The Queen Latifah Show, a daytime talk show, debuted in 1999 and ran in syndication until 2001. In November 2002, Latifah ran afoul of the law again; she was pulled over by police and failed a sobriety test, and was placed on three years' probation after pleading guilty to DUI charges. However, this mishap was somewhat overshadowed by her performance in the acclaimed movie musical Chicago, which garnered her Best Supporting Actress nominations from both the Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes.

In 2004, she released The Dana Owens Album, a diverse collection of covers and interpretations -- from Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band's "Hard Times" to Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" -- that highlighted her singing skills rather than her rapping. Trav'lin' Light followed with a similar format in 2007, ranging from the Pointer Sisters to Shirley Horn, with guest appearances from Joe Sample, George Duke, Erykah Badu, and Jill Scott. During the years between the releases, she acted in several movies, including Taxi, Beauty Shop, Last Holiday, and Hairspray. In 2009, she released the star-studded Persona, a pop-flavored album produced by Cool & Dre. ~ Steve Huey

AOL Radio Stations Queen Latifah is Featured on (11)

Ladies Of Hip Hop

This is is Slacker's tribute to female MCs and groups- from Roxanne Shanté to Nicki Minaj. You'll hear the ladies that broke down barriers like JJ Fad and MC Lyte, 90s superstars like Missy Elliot and Foxy Brown, along with today's trendsetters like Azealia Banks and Angel Haze. It's always ladies night on Slacker's Ladies of Hip Hop- but no scrubs!

Masters Of Hip Hop

This station represents the G.O.A.T. of hip hop. Your Slacker curators have created a station with only two criteria: is it one of the greatest hip hop tracks of all time? And is it from one of the greatest MCs of all time? If the answer is yes to both, then you'll hear it on Slacker's Masters Of Hip Hop. Only the hottest jams and biggest hits from 4 decades of rap and hip hop.

Old School Rap

Yo, yo, it's Old School Rap radio taking you on a ride to when hip-hop was in its truest form. Rhymin', beatboxing and the dopest beats ever made. From Run-DMC to Snoop Doggy Dogg, you'll only hear the illest joints on this station.

LGBT Pride

Celebrate LGBT Pride with a Slacker Radio station that's as diverse as the gay community itself. You'll hear anthems from "I Will Survive" to "Born This Way," plus out and proud artists from Adam Lambert to Frank Ocean. And of course we've got all the hot dance tracks to soundtrack your Pride celebrations.

'90s Hip Hop

'90s Hip Hop on Slacker Radio is dedicated to the era when Hip Hop became a worldwide music revolution. You'll hear the bling-bling sounds of the South, the West Coast G-Funk and the hardcore East Coast rhymes. Artists include everything from the one hit wonders to the genre-defining greats like The Notorious B.I.G., 2Pac, Nas, Dr. Dre and many more.

Vocal Standards

For decades, the world of popular music belonged to the singers and songwriters. From romantic ballads to swinging standards, Vocal Standards on Slacker Radio shines the spotlight on the best classic and modern crooners, singers, and swingers ever heard.

Chicano Old School

Chicano Old School on Slacker means classic Latin Soul, Oldies & R&B. All the rolas you loved over the years, and a soundtrack to chill with while hanging out with the homies. OG Jams from Santana, El Chicano, War, Tierra, Malo, Brenton Wood, Billy Stewart, Earth Wind & Fire, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, Rose Royce, The Stylistics, Zapp & Roger, and more. Cruise to this- Old School Chicano on Slacker.

Big Band/Swing

Slacker’s Big Band/Swing showcases the bands and singers that changed the face of American music and have kept the style and tradition alive ever since. From the “sweet” music of the mid 1920’s, all the way to the resurgence of swing in the 1990’s, you’ll hear all your favorites.

Jazz

Jazz on Slacker Radio draws from a rich palette of melodic and improvisational sounds, encompassing all the colors of jazz. From classic to current, from Adderley to Zawinul, you’ll experience listenable but progressive mix.

Hip Hop

Hip Hop not only represents a genre of music, but a social culture. It’s the collective talent of all the artists that have made it what it is today. On Hip Hop on Slacker you’ll hear deeper album cuts as well as the hits, including Jay-Z, Run DMC, Kanye West, Notorious B.I.G and Common. The evolution of Hip Hop is here on Slacker.

Queen Latifah

This station plays the best music from and music from related artists like LL Cool J, Naughty by Nature, Run DMC, Slick Rick, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Doug E. Fresh, Big Daddy Kane, Public Enemy, Digital Underground, Salt-N-Pepa and more.

All Stations

Queen Latifah's Selected Discography (13)

Artists Related to Queen Latifah (50)

	LL Cool J	Hip-hop is notorious for short-lived careers, but LL Cool J is the inevitable exception that proves the rule.
	Naughty by Nature	Naughty by Nature pulled off the neat trick of landing big, instantly catchy anthems on the pop charts while maintaining their street-level credibility among the hardcore rap faithful; one of the first groups to successfully perform such a balancing act.
	Run DMC	More than any other hip-hop group, Run-D.M.C. are responsible for the sound and style of the music. As the first hardcore rap outfit, the trio set the sound and style for the next decade of rap.
	Slick Rick	Slick Rick foreshadowed and epitomized the pimpster attitude of many rappers during the late '80s and early '90s, with gold chains, his trademark eye-patch, and recordings that were no less misogynistic -- "Treat Her Like a Prostitute," for example, became an underground hit in 1988, though it was justly criticized for its view of women.
	DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince	To many present-day listeners, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince are best-remembered for launching the superstar music/acting career of the latter, now known by his real name of Will Smith.
	Doug E. Fresh	The first human beatbox in the rap world, and still the best of all time, Doug E. Fresh amazed audiences with his note-perfect imitations of drum machines, effects, and often large samples of hip-hop classics.
	Big Daddy Kane	Emerging during hip-hop's massive creative expansion of the late '80s, Big Daddy Kane was the ultimate lover man of rap's first decade, yet there was more to him than the stylish wardrobe, gold jewelry, and sophisticated charisma.
	Public Enemy	Public Enemy rewrote the rules of hip-hop, becoming the most influential and controversial rap group of the late '80s and, for many, the definitive rap group of all time.
	Digital Underground	While hip-hop was consumed by the hardcore, noisy political rap of Public Enemy and the gangsta rap of N.
	Salt-N-Pepa	By the late '80s, hip-hop was on its way to becoming a male-dominated art form, which is what made the emergence of Salt-n-Pepa so significant.
	Eric B. & Rakim	They never had a mainstream hit of their own, but during rap's so-called golden age in the late '80s, Eric B.
	Sir Mix-A-Lot	Inextricably linked with his pop culture touchstone "Baby Got Back," Sir Mix-A-Lot parlayed a gonzo tribute to women with large buttocks into hip-hop immortality, even despite his failure to score another hit of its magnitude.
	Ice-T	Ice-T (born Tracy Morrow) has proven to be one of hip-hop's most articulate and intelligent stars, as well as one of its most frustrating.
	Ice Cube	Ice Cube was the first member of the seminal California rap group N.W.A. to leave, and he quickly established himself as one of hip-hop's best and most controversial artists.
	EPMD	On the surface, the sample-reliant productions and monotone rapping styles of Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith had little to recommend them, but the duo's recordings as EPMD were among the best in hip-hop's underground during the late '80s and early '90s.
	MC Lyte	MC Lyte was one of the first female rappers to point out the sexism and misogyny that often runs rampant in hip-hop, often taking the subject head on lyrically in her songs and helping open the door for such future artists as Queen Latifah and Missy Elliott.
	N.W.A	N.W.A, the unapologetically violent and sexist pioneers of gangsta rap, are in many ways the most notorious group in the history of rap.
	Biz Markie	Biz Markie's inclination toward juvenile humor and his fondness for goofy, tuneless, half-sung choruses camouflaged his true talents as a freestyle rhymer.
	2 Live Crew	No rap group (save, perhaps, N.W.A) has stirred more controversy or provoked more heated debate than the 2 Live Crew.
	De La Soul	At the time of its 1989 release, De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, was hailed as the future of hip-hop.
	Wu-Tang Clan	Emerging in 1993, when Dr. Dre's G-funk had overtaken the hip-hop world, the Staten Island, New York-based Wu-Tang Clan proved to be the most revolutionary rap group of the mid-'90s -- and only partially because of their music.
	Geto Boys	Though the controversial subject matter of gangsta rap wasn't much of a barrier to popular success during the '90s, the Geto Boys' recordings proved almost too extreme for widespread exposure.
	Boogie Down Productions	Boogie Down Productions was one of the most important and influential hip-hop groups of the latter half of the '80s.
	Nas	Beginning with his classic debut, Illmatic (1994), Nas stood tall for years as one of New York City's leading rap voices, outspokenly expressing a righteous, self-empowered swagger that endeared him to critics and hip-hop purists.
	A Tribe Called Quest	Without question the most intelligent, artistic rap group during the 1990s, A Tribe Called Quest jump-started and perfected the hip-hop alternative to hardcore and gangsta rap.
	The Notorious B.I.G.	In just a few short years, the Notorious B.I.G. went from a Brooklyn street hustler to the savior of East Coast hip-hop to a tragic victim of the culture of violence he depicted so realistically on his records.
	Snoop Dogg	As the embodiment of '90s gangsta rap, Snoop Dogg blurred the lines between reality and fiction. Introduced to the world through Dr.
	Black Sheep	Remembered for a couple of striking singles and their membership in the Native Tongues family of groups, Black Sheep also recorded one of rap music's most entertaining debuts, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.
	Dr. Dre	More than any other rapper, Dr. Dre was responsible for moving away from the avant-noise and political stance of Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions as well as the party vibes of old-school rap.
	Cypress Hill	Cypress Hill were notable for being the first Latino hip-hop superstars, but they became notorious for their endorsement of marijuana, which actually isn't a trivial thing.
	2Pac	2Pac became the unlikely martyr of gangsta rap, and a tragic symbol of the toll its lifestyle exacted on urban black America.
	Fugees	The Fugees translated an intriguing blend of jazz-rap, R&B, and reggae into huge success during the mid-'90s, when the trio's sophomore album The Score hit number one on the pop charts and sold over five million copies.
	DJ Quik	One of the premier West Coast gangsta rap artists of the early '90s, DJ Quik was a rapper as well as a producer whose career carried on well into the next decade, as he put his career aside and began working primarily as a beat-maker.
	Busta Rhymes	The most idiosyncratic personality in rap and possessor of its most recognizable delivery, a halting, ragga-inspired style with incredible complexity, inventiveness, and humor, Busta Rhymes formed Leaders of the New School in 1990 and released two albums with the group before breaking out with a 1996 solo hit single, "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check.
	Too Short	Born in Los Angeles, but an Oakland resident by the age of 14, Too Short was the first West Coast rap star, recording three albums on his own before he made his major-label debut with 1988's gold album Born to Mack; his next four all went platinum.
	Lil' Kim	After making her presence known on Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s debut album, Conspiracy, Lil' Kim launched a solo career in 1996 with the release of her first record, Hard Core.
	Kool Moe Dee	A member of one of the original hip-hop crews, Treacherous Three, Kool Moe Dee later became a solo star in his own right in 1986 by teaming with a teenaged Teddy Riley (later famed as the king of new jack swing) on the crossover hit "Go See the Doctor.
	OutKast	OutKast's blend of gritty Southern soul, fluid raps, and the low-slung funk of their Organized Noize production crew epitomized the Atlanta wing of hip-hop's rising force, the Dirty South, during the mid to late '90s.
	Grandmaster Flash	DJ Grandmaster Flash and his group the Furious Five were hip-hop's greatest innovators, transcending the genre's party-music origins to explore the full scope of its lyrical and sonic horizons.
	KRS-One	KRS-One (born Kris Parker) was the leader of Boogie Down Productions, one of the most influential hardcore hip-hop outfits of the '80s.
	Method Man	Method Man was the first -- and biggest -- solo star to emerge from the groundbreaking Wu-Tang Clan.
	Warren G	Born Warren Griffin III, Warren G exploded out of the burgeoning Long Beach rap scene in 1994 with the smash single "Regulate," a duet with longtime friend Nate Dogg, and its accompanying album, Regulate.
	Gang Starr	The most influential MC-and-DJ tandem of the 1990s, Gang Starr set new standards for East Coast rap with a pair of early-'90s touchstones, Step in the Arena (1991) and Daily Operation (1992), whose appeal has only grown over the decades.
	Rob Base	Best-known for his 1988 platinum hip-hop classic "It Takes Two," Rob Base (with DJ E-Z Rock) rode his hit onto R&B radio stations as well as dance clubs, providing a touchstone for the style known as hip-house.
	Whodini	Coming out of the fertile early-'80s New York rap scene, Whodini were one of the first rap groups to add a straight R&B twist to their music, thus laying the groundwork for the new jack swing movement.
	Craig Mack	An above-average rapper blessed with a bit of luck and connections as well as talent, Craig Mack practically made Puff Daddy's Bad Boy label with a remix of his 1994 hit "Flava in Ya Ear.
	DMX	Following the deaths of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., DMX took over as the undisputed reigning king of hardcore rap.
	Onyx	Onyx's shouting, in-your-face brand of high-volume rapping proved to be more at home in the slam pit than on the dancefloor and brought the rap quartet instant chart success.
	Redman	Never quite a superstar, Redman was nonetheless one of the most off-the-wall, beloved, and enduring rappers of the '90s and 2000s.
	Das EFX	Das EFX's wildly playful, rapid-fire stuttering -- dense with rhymes and nonsense words -- was one of the most distinctive and influential lyrical styles in early-'90s hip-hop.