Queen Latifah

Queen Latifah (born Dana Elaine Owens, March 18, 1970 in Newark, New Jersey) is a Grammy-winning American rapper/singer and Academy Award-nominated actress.  In the early days of her career, she was one of the members of the original version of the Flavor Unit, which, at that time, was a crew of emcees centered around producer DJ Mark the 45 King. She was also a member of the Nation of Gods and Earths, a Faradian Islamic sect. After becoming successful, DJ Mark the 45 King fell into serious drug abuse, and she took over the crew and it became her management company with the help of Jake Abrams.  She started her career beatboxing for the rap group Ladies Fresh. In 1988, local 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 at the time hosted Yo! MTV Raps). Freddy helped her sign with Tommy Boy Records. It released Latifah's first album, All Hail the Queen, in 1989, at the age of 19. In that same year, she also appeared as Referee on the UK label Music of Life album "1989—The Hustlers Convention (live)" remonstrating between MC Duke and an unknown emcee in the crowd not to battle and to deal with the dis laid down by Duke as a man, she then gets cursed out for not being English. Her debut managed to be both a critical and commercial success and was followed by the albums Nature of a Sista and Black Reign, which contained the hit single, U.N.I.T.Y., for which she won a Grammy. In 1998, after releasing fourth hip-hop album, Order in the Court, she released the soul/jazz standards The Dana Owens Album in 2004.  See Queen Latifah LIVE!  Purchase your Queen Latifah tickets today!