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Birth name: Dana Elaine Owens. Born: 18 March 1970 Newark, New Jersey. Nickname: Hip-Hop's First Lady. Height: 5' 10" (178 cm). Notable roles: -Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago. Dana Elaine Owens, better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, singer and actress. Latifah's work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, Grammy Award, five additional Grammy nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Award, an Emmy Award nomination and an Academy Award nomination. Queen Latifah was born in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of Rita, a schoolteacher, and Lancelot Owens, a policeman.Her parents divorced when Latifah was ten. Latifah performed the number "Home" from the musical The Wiz in a high school play. Her stage name, Latifah, meaning "kind" in Arabic, was given to her when she was eight by her cousin. Latifah was raised in the Baptist religion, and, while in high school, was a power forward on her basketball team. Latifah started her career beatboxing for the rap group Ladies Fresh. Latifah was one of the members of the original version of the Flavor Unit, which, at that time, was a crew of emcees grouped around producer DJ Mark the 45 King. In 1988, DJ Mark the 45 King heard a demo version of Latifah's single "Princess of the Posse" and gave the demo to Fab Five Freddy, who was the host of Yo! MTV Raps. Freddy helped Latifah sign with Tommy Boy Records, which released Latifah's first album All Hail the Queen in 1989, when she was nineteen. In 2007, Latifah released an album entitled Trav'lin' Light. It has been nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album" category. From 1993 to 1998, Latifah had a starring role on Living Single, a FOX sitcom; she also wrote and performed its theme music. Queen Latifah her film career in a supporting role in the 1991 films House Party 2, Juice, and Jungle Fever. Latifah's older brother Lancelot was killed in 1992 in an accident involving a motorcycle that Latifah had recently bought him. Latifah still wears the key to the motorcycle around her neck, which can be seen throughout her performance in her sitcom Living Single. In her 1999 autobiography, Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman, Latifah discussed how her brother's death led to a bout of depression and drug abuse, from which she later recovered. |