Queen Latifah - Latifah's Had It Up 2 Here

Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970) better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper and actress. Queen Latifah's work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy Award nomination and an Academy Award nomination.She was born and raised in East Orange, New Jersey, the daughter of Rita (née Bray), a schoolteacher who worked at Irvington High School, and Lancelot Owens, Sr., a police officer. Her parents divorced when Latifah was ten.Latifah was raised in the Baptist churchand attended Catholic school in Newark, New Jersey.Her stage name, Latifahmeaning "delicate" and "very kind" in Arabic, was given to her by her cousin when she was eight.Always a tall girl, the 5'10" Latifah was a power forward on her high school basketball team.She performed the number "Home" from the musical The Wiz in a high school play.She started 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 MCs grouped around producer DJ Mark the 45 King. Mark James aka "DJ Mark the 45 King" made a demo recording of Queen Latifah's rap Princess of the Posse. He gave the recording to the host of Yo! MTV Raps Fab 5 Freddy. The song got the attention of Tommy Boy Music employee Dante Ross, who signed Latifah and in 1988 issued her first single, "Wrath of My Madness".Freddy helped Latifah sign with Tommy Boy Records, which released Latifah's first album All Hail the Queen in 1989, when she was nineteen.That year, she appeared as Referee on the UK label Music of Life album "1989—The Hustlers Convention (live)". In 1998, Co Produced by Ro Smith, now CEO of Def Ro Inc., she released her fourth hip-hop album Order in the Court.After Order in the Court, Latifah shifted primarily to singing in soul music and jazz standards, which she had used sparingly in her previous hip-hop-oriented records. In 2004, she released the soul/jazz standards The Dana Owens Album. On July 11, 2007, Latifah sang at the famed Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles as the headlining act in a live jazz concert. Before a crowd of more than 12,400, she was backed by a 10-piece live orchestra and three backup vocalists, The Queen Latifah Orchestra. Latifah performed new arrangements of standards including "California Dreaming", first made popular by '60s icons The Mamas & the Papas. Later in 2007, Latifah released an album entitled Trav'lin' Light. Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Joe Sample, George Duke, Christian McBride, and Stevie Wonder made guest appearances.It was nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album" category.In 2009, Latifah, along with the Jubilation Choir, recorded the title track on the album Oh Happy Day: An All-Star Music Celebration, covering the song the Edwin Hawkins Singers made popular in 1969.

Album "Nature Of A Sista" (1991)

• Category

  Music