Dana Owens (born
March 18,
1970), better known as
Queen Latifah, is an American rapper from the early and mid
1990s. Her debut,
All Hail the Queen (
1989) was critically acclaimed as one of the best
hip hop albums of all time. This was followed by
Nature of a Sista[?], another well-reviewed album. After that, Latifah began working on
Living Single[?], a
FOX sitcom. She was also arrested in possession of a small amount of
marijuana and a gun. In
1992, her brother died in a car accident and Latifah released an album dedicated to him,
Black Reign[?], which was a hit partly because of a hit single,
U.N.I.T.Y.[?]. In 2002 she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Matron "Mama" Morton in the musical "
Chicago".
Latifah means "delicate" and "sensitive" in Arabic. She was given this nickname at the age of eight by her black Muslim cousin.