- 11 years ago
Documentary/Music - Color - 60 Min. - 2005
Follow the journey of how a little girl from the projects of Newark, New Jersey became a Queen in Hip Hop, jazz and on the silver screen. She has worked with the likes of Denzel Washington, Steve Martin, Danny Devito, Ice Cube, Will Smith, and LLCool J. See how Queen Latifah also known as Dana Owens has built an entertainment empire amidst adversity. Although she struggles everyday to get over her brothers death, she still maintains her reign and is well on her way to making an even bigger name for herself in the entertainment industry. You will see how the inspiration of Hip Hop created one of the most talented African American females in History.
Follow the journey of how a little girl from the projects of Newark, New Jersey became a Queen in Hip Hop, jazz and on the silver screen. She has worked with the likes of Denzel Washington, Steve Martin, Danny Devito, Ice Cube, Will Smith, and LLCool J. See how Queen Latifah also known as Dana Owens has built an entertainment empire amidst adversity. Although she struggles everyday to get over her brothers death, she still maintains her reign and is well on her way to making an even bigger name for herself in the entertainment industry. You will see how the inspiration of Hip Hop created one of the most talented African American females in History.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00One love, one man, one world, one man.
00:29The best man in the world, my journey's startin' today.
00:43See the 2005 Grammys?
00:44The 2003 Oscars?
00:45Any movies in the last few years?
00:46Like, Chicago?
00:47Bringin' Down The House?
00:48Barbershop Too?
00:49Taxi?
00:50Then, you've seen the one-and-only energetic producer, actor, singer, songwriter, performer,
00:56businesswoman, and rapper. Who is this talented woman? Queen Latifah. This is the story of
01:04a woman who has deep personal relationships, who does what she thinks is important no matter
01:09what other people say. In a world where jail time can equal credibility and abuse sometimes
01:15passes for hits, Queen Latifah defies expectations and continues to reign supreme in an ever
01:21widening circle of achievement. In 1978, a young girl named Dana Owens from Newark,
01:35New Jersey had just moved into the projects with her mother and brother, a result of her
01:40parents divorce. In that same year, this little girl chose a new name for herself, Latifah,
01:47meaning sensitive and delicate. The next year, a group called the Sugar Hill Gang released
01:53a single called Rapper's Delight. This single sold over 2 million copies and started a rapping
01:59revolution, which would later evolve into what is now called hip hop. Because I actually
02:04have their 12 inch that my older brother had, because when they came out I was probably
02:11in junior high school, I believe, no I was actually in grade school when Sugar Hill Gang
02:15came out and you know, it was a whole new thing. I grew up in a musical household, you
02:22know, my parents grew up, you know, we grew up listening to music that our parents listened
02:26to and then ourselves growing up in the 80s era, 80s to 90s that is, you know, there was
02:36radio, radio was top 40 predominantly at that time, so you didn't hear that type of song
02:42on the radio, but if you were in front of the streets, any part of the streets, wherever
02:46you were from, and you heard the Sugar Hill Gang song, it was just different, it was something
02:51different and you knew something was going to happen. You just didn't know quite what
02:56and I lived in California so it had definitely started first in New York, but by hearing
03:04about it, that really was the only transition to making its way to the West Coast because
03:08the actual format of all that followed of the whole hip-hop culture after the Sugar
03:13Hill Gang, with breakdancing and popping, once that sort of made its way into my neighborhood,
03:20you know, by then so many other artists had evolved and come from the whole New York scene.
03:26There's The Light, Grandmaster Flash, yeah, I grew up listening to all of them, all of
03:32them, of course they lived out in the block too, so it was like right there, Run-D.M.C.,
03:37yeah.
03:39Seven years later, the hip-hop club scene had exploded. At the center of the explosion
03:44was a club in Manhattan known as The Latin Quarter, a ghost now. It stood at the corner
03:49of 48th Street and Broadway in Times Square and hosted a whole new breed of ever-radicalizing
03:56whiplash smart homies like Run-D.M.C., Rakim, and Salt-N-Pepa. Run-D.M.C. had synthesized
04:03their soon-to-be-hailed hip-hop ghetto style with Aerosmith's hard rock riffs, creating
04:09a crossover sensation that took rap past its urban birthplace into the American heartland.
04:16Curtis Blow was definitely a lot more late 70s, early 80s, one of those forefathers of
04:21the hip-hop era and what came from New York. Salt-N-Pepa, though, down the line as hip-hop
04:26transitioned into more of a mainstream, some of the songs were starting to get played on
04:30Top 40, but more so in the form of more popular amongst the streets and the record sales were
04:36starting to evolve. But Salt-N-Pepa was a little more years later, 85, 86, 87, 88, specifically
04:43when Push It came out and it became such a big hit for them. You know, at that time it
04:49kind of transitioned and, you know, I definitely am part of that era of when that music had
04:54just came out when it was first popped. And, you know, I just remember the dances, all
04:59the dances that came from that, just the Robocop and the Cabbage Patch, all those early hip-hop
05:08dances that was even after the breakdancers and the popping, just the club dances, because
05:15by this time hip-hop music made its way into the clubs even more so, even the clubs that
05:21you could go to in downtown. And that was the music they were playing, so that was the
05:26music you danced to. Salt-N-Pepa were sexy women, and though they weren't the first female
05:32rappers, they broke ground for women to rap on stage in a way that had never been seen
05:37before. In the midst of all this, getting into the city and the Latin Quarter as often
05:42as she could was the then 15-year-old Latifah. In junior high, she already earned standing
05:49ovations from her singing performances. Despite some challenges, she had confidence to burn.
05:55She didn't know it yet, but one day she would make her mark on the very rap scene she couldn't
06:00get enough of. Queen Latifah was born Dana Elaine Owens on March the 18th, 1970. A Pisces,
06:13her mother noted her amazing energy from the day she was born. Dana's daddy was a policeman
06:18in the city of Newark, Officer Lance Owens. Her brother, Lancelot, was two years older
06:24and nicknamed Winky. But the star of Dana's childhood was her encouraging mother, Rita
06:32Bray Owens, who so valued communication and self-confidence. She did everything she could
06:38to raise a daughter secure in her own talents and ideas. When Latifah wrote about her mother
06:43in her autobiography, Ladies First, she told us,
06:46My mother's always told me how smart, beautiful, and talented I was. In her mind, there was
06:51nothing I couldn't do. She never limited me. My mother believed in me before I believed
06:56in myself. It was that support and courage that got Rita's family through their first
07:01big upset in 1978 when she and Lance divorced. Lance still remained involved with his children,
07:07but they lived with Rita in a large housing project in Newark. Rita worked to make their
07:14apartment different from the others in the massive building. She made it colorful and
07:18cozy and encouraged her kids to decorate their own rooms with themes that were meaningful
07:23to them. Latifah created a dance space in her room. It had become popular since the
07:29ascendance of Malcolm X for African Americans to choose their own Muslim names. The new
07:34names showed pride in African heritage and rejected the European names that were considered
07:39slave names. At the age of eight, Dana and her cousin, Sharonda, were looking through
07:43a book of Muslim names for themselves. Sharonda had chosen Salima Wadia, which means safe
07:50and healthy. Dana's brother Winky had chosen Jamil, which means beautiful. Dana knew she
07:57had found her name as soon as she saw it, Latifah. It meant delicate, sensitive, and
08:02kind. No matter how tough she had to be in the neighborhood, Dana knew Latifah reflected
08:08her true inner self. As Latifah grew up, her mother and brother were the biggest influences
08:14in her life. Her mother encouraged her to communicate and to speak the truth. After
08:19returning to school and working three jobs for two years, Rita had been able to move
08:23the family into their own large space, away from the projects. Rita's love and support
08:28has been the backbone of Latifah's faith and confidence. Her very special big brother,
08:34Winky, always pushed her to do more and be more, urged her to be better and smarter than
08:39she already was. As he got older, Lancelot Jr. took the responsibilities of being man
08:44of the house very seriously, getting an after-school job so he could contribute to the expenses
08:49and give Latifah an allowance. Latifah always said it amazed her that he did these things
08:55when he didn't have to. In high school, Latifah was intellectually gifted, and her mother
09:00stretched her finances so that her daughter could attend St. Ann's Parochial School,
09:04where Latifah first performed as Dorothy in her high school play, The Wiz. The popular
09:10Queen Latifah also played power forward on her school's basketball team. In 1985, with
09:17the support from her mother and brother, Latifah started an all-female rap group called Ladies
09:22Fresh. They performed before all the Irvington High basketball games and had made a friend
09:27named Ramsey. Together they went to New York to check out the new and growing hip-hop scene.
09:32Even though Ramsey was one of the coolest guys at their high school, Irvington High,
09:37it was Latifah's mother who introduced her to the one DJ who would change her life. Rita
09:42hired Mark 45 King as a DJ for a high school activity. Mark and Latifah met, hit it off,
09:49and history was in the making. This is when she added the Queen to Latifah. Mark's basement
09:56became a haven for young rappers looking to record their fresh raps to his hot tracks.
10:01At first, Latifah was just there to make the scene, but her friend Ramsey encouraged her
10:06to grab the mic. Even though she wasn't the best at first, she kept at it until she started
10:11to like what she heard. She says,
10:15Mark's basement was always buzzing with people from the neighborhood, and eventually we became
10:20a posse. I was the only female MC in the group, and the youngest, so I called myself
10:25princess of the posse. Even though she rapped in her high school group before basketball
10:30games and in Mark's basement, Latifah still hadn't really seen rapping as a full-time
10:35gig for her. She had enrolled in the Borough of Manhattan Community College to study broadcast
10:40journalism. Although down at the Latin Quarter Salt-N-Pepa showed that women could perform
10:46hip-hop, Latifah didn't relate to their body-conscious fashions and high-heeled boots. But when she
10:52saw the performances of Sweet T and Jazzy Joyce, two women in sweats like herself, Latifah
10:57saw that maybe she could rap too. As a role model, and watching their success grow right
11:03before my eyes put ideas into my head, my dreams were morphing into reality there. I
11:08started thinking, maybe I can do it too. I could hear them.
11:12Go Latifah, go Latifah, give it to him now. Go Latifah, give it to him now.
11:19Her friend Ramsey put his money into studio time for Latifah and Mark the 45 King to produce
11:24a two-song demo. So in the summer of 1987, 17-year-old Latifah had her first song played
11:31on the radio. The lyrics,
11:33Baseline affect me, my rhymes direct me, forgive the crowds, oh lord, they know not why they
11:40sweat me. It was her demo, Princes of the Posse, and Latifah shouted to the world that
11:45she was on the radio. That same demo made its way to Tommy Boy Records, where the head
11:50of artist development called Latifah just days of hearing it to make a record deal.
11:55Six months after graduating high school, Latifah was a signed rapper with a record contract.
12:00She was 17 and about to go from being Princes of the Posse to the Queen of the Posse.
12:07I grew up in Queens, and so I would always see her around, like back in the day, like
12:13the 80s, on the block, you know, and she would hang out with MC Lyte, and of course I worked
12:21at the Queensborough Mall, so I would see LL and Queen and Salt-N-Pepa, and just all
12:27the time, like they were regulars. So yeah, I used to, she wouldn't remember me to this
12:33day, but yeah, I used to talk to her back in the day.
12:36Along with Mark the 45 King, Latifah settled into making her first album. They collaborated
12:41with a lot of different hip-hop artists that they were hanging out with in Mark's basement,
12:45including Monie Love. Latifah's first album, All Hail to the Queen, came out in 1989. It
12:52included the songs from her demo, and new songs like Lady's First. The song was all
12:57about Latifah affirming the African American woman's place in her people's history.
13:02For the album, her new handle became Queen Latifah, a recognition of her African heritage,
13:07because all Africans came from a long line of kings and queens. When Tommy Boy gave her
13:12the money to buy new clothes for the photo shoot to promote the album, she went to an
13:16African clothing store, and they helped her fashion a traditional African outfit, complete
13:21with an African crown, made of African cloth. She went barefoot for the shoot, completing
13:27the image. It fit the rap collective she was a part of, Native Tongues, consisting
13:32of Monie Love, De La Soul, and a tribe called Quest. They toured with the Jungle Brothers,
13:37opening as part of the new Afro-centrism, sparked by the success of Public Enemy.
13:42The one thing about De La Soul was they were amongst that era that was more hip-hop and
13:50not rap. And I'm talking after the whole New York phase of artists, all of these other
13:56artists that transitioned out of the underground hip-hop era. And it's funny because artists
14:03were starting to classify themselves as rap, gangster rap, hip-hop, and that's kind of
14:09when the whole genre of the different genres of rap evolved. With De La Soul being more
14:17of that underground flavor, that was their feel, and they were amongst a lot of artists
14:22like you said, the Jungle Brothers, Black Sheep, Stick Around the Planets. A lot of
14:30those artists kind of stuck to amongst themselves. They kind of stuck together amongst themselves
14:36in that genre. And they toured a lot. A lot of those artists toured a lot and did shows
14:42because they didn't sell a lot of records based on their airing over the radio airwaves.
14:49They weren't getting a lot of record spins, but they were definitely getting a lot of
14:54underground street credibility by touring and doing a lot of show dates and college
14:58shows. A lot of those artists survived on their show dates. They credited a lot of their
15:04sales through going out and performing.
15:08And the album, All Hail the Queen, was successful. The album was nominated for a Grammy, was
15:14on the Billboard Top Ten R&B charts, and went platinum. When Latifah was voted Best
15:19Female Rapper by Rolling Stone readers, the biggest music organization in the business
15:24recognized her as the Best New Artist of 1990.
15:28To me, Queen Latifah, she's just one of those icon artists. She was such a strong-voiced
15:35female. And coming out of that era, she just had this toughness about her. And then she
15:43rightfully gave herself the name Queen Latifah, so she had some shoes to fill if she was going
15:48to be the queen of hip-hop. And that's pretty much what she evolved in by being able to
15:53hold it down for a female coming up in that era, because everyone was trying to prove
15:59themselves. And with her being a female, she had a little more to prove. And by being a
16:04female calling herself the queen, she had even triple more to prove amongst the other
16:10female emcees that were coming out of that era. And Queen Latifah just sort of stayed
16:15out. She held her reign, and she just always came out with good songs, and songs that eventually
16:21transitioned into hits for her on crossover radio.
16:27I think the early song that I remember Queen Latifah rapped to was Ladies First. I wasn't
16:35rhyming along to the song, but it sort of had this, ladies first, ladies first. You
16:41know, it was just sort of like she was repping for females at that time, and it just had
16:47a cool track to it.
16:49Ladies First was later included in the top 500 songs that shaped rock and roll. In Ladies
16:55First, Latifah took an important step, addressing some of the degrading images of women put
17:01forward by other elements of rap, without ever putting down her male counterparts. Much
17:07of the images of women in rap were of thong-wearing booties bouncing by the pool. Latifah and
17:13the native tongues collectively presented alternative and powerful images of women.
17:18Her second album, Nature of a Sister, followed in 1991. Already, she was appearing on
17:24television shows, guest starring on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which starred rapper Will
17:29Smith, who was already on his way to being a crossover rapping-acting sensation. She
17:34was also cast by the great African-American filmmaker Spike Lee, in which she had a big
17:40part in his film about race relations, Jungle Fever. At the age of 21, with her record contract
17:47riding high, her acting career on the way, she had already started investing in small
17:52businesses in Newark, and was doing great in bringing everyone along with her.
18:00Reign of Darkness
18:02By 1992, Latifah, her friends, and her brother Winky had all gotten into motorcycle riding.
18:08She had been able to buy Winky a motorcycle for his 24th birthday, a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-7.
18:15When she was home, she and her posse would all ride together, discovering the freedom
18:21of the road. But she hadn't been home that often. By 1992, Queen Latifah had been traveling
18:27all over the world, and missed her family. She wanted everyone together again. She found
18:32a beautiful house in New Jersey, with a forested backyard, and enough space for her, her mother,
18:38and Winky to live in. A couple of days after she got the keys to the new house, she and
18:44her brother Winky, now a police officer, explored the house with his flashlight. Her vision
18:51that they could all be together again was coming true. But it was not to be. Less than
18:57a month later, she was relaxing with friends one Saturday after helping one of them move
19:01into a new apartment. She received a 911 page, and was called to the hospital where her brother
19:07was in surgery from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in his Ninja ZX-7. Latifah
19:13was so emotional, she couldn't drive herself. Her friend Rahim took her to the hospital
19:19to wait. Doctors worked on Winky for hours, even massaging his heart. 22-year-old Latifah
19:26and her friends and family waited in prayer and tears. Then finally, tragically, the doctors
19:32told them, we're sorry, we lost him. Seven years later, Latifah was able to describe
19:39the experience that followed in her biography. It would be months before I could finally
19:44accept Winky's death. Every morning and every evening, my grief pounded on my skull, tearing
19:50through my heart. Losing Winky was like losing half of myself. I was numb and empty. Of course,
19:58Rita Owens, Winky and Latifah's mom, was feeling the loss too. And as much as they tried to
20:03help each other, they were both suffering deeply. As Latifah struggled, she thought
20:09at one point, that maybe she should just join Winky in death.
20:39That really hit home for her, and I believe she started wearing a pendant or something
20:44to remind her of him out in public. She went on to talk about him. She has been really
20:51heavily into biking since then, I believe, as a tribute to him and his spirit, because
20:55he was so into biking. So, it shows they're a very close-knit family. It was a tragic,
21:00tragic situation.
21:03When I heard about Queen Latifah's brother dying in an accident, the one thing you think
21:08about is, wow, I mean, this is real life, and it happened to someone that is known in
21:14the public eye, and a known hip-hop artist. And, you know, you hear about these things
21:18every day happening in the news, but when you hear about it happening to someone that
21:22is known, or an artist that you're a fan of, you kind of feel their pain, and you kind
21:28of grieve with them like, you know, they're my family.
21:32She's come through a lot in her life. She's always been in the public eye, and to lose
21:37a brother, you know, I don't have any siblings, but I know that definitely to overcome death
21:46in the family, a tragedy such as it was, she's succeeded in so many ways, and you just almost
21:52want to, you know, give her a hug, give her a big old hug and kiss.
21:58And, you know, I would feel bad for anyone to lose their brother, but for Queen Latifah,
22:04I can only imagine what she went through as a hip-hop artist, because you constantly have
22:08to be working, you constantly have to be out, you constantly have to be touring, and you
22:12constantly have to be smiling in front of the camera, and I'm sure that was probably
22:17hard for her for quite some time to deal with.
22:21Her close friend Tammy supported her. Even though in her anger Latifah blamed God, Tammy
22:27refused to let her. In some emotional sessions, Tammy was there supporting Latifah to process
22:33her anger, and even though she took some time to emerge from the numbness of her grief,
22:38Latifah was able to draw on her faith. She and Rita established the Lancelot H. Owens
22:43Foundation to give scholarships to exceptional children with financial limitations.
22:49She had a third album to make with Motown Records. When she felt working would not be
22:54possible, she communicated with Winky through her music. The music they were both familiar
22:59with felt therapeutic. She threw herself fully into making the album, Black Rain, which became
23:06her most personal and most successful to date. The cover of the album was a picture of Queen
23:11Latifah at Winky's grave. The picture is dynamic and shows Latifah's face in a snarl of rage
23:17and loss. Some critics mistake this choice as one calculated to show Latifah's tough
23:23side, but knowing the picture was taken at Winky's grave, it is clear that Latifah was
23:28suffering deeply. Audiences often cry when she performs Winky's theme. Since Black Rain,
23:35Queen Latifah has had a song for Winky on each album she has made.
23:47Winky's theme song is a tribute to Queen Latifah.
23:50The song is a tribute to Queen Latifah, who was the first Black woman to be recognized
23:54as a Black woman.
23:56Queen Latifah was the first Black woman to be recognized as a Black woman.
24:00Queen Latifah was the first Black woman to be recognized as a Black woman.
24:04Queen Latifah was the first Black woman to be recognized as a Black woman.
24:07Queen Latifah was the first Black woman to be recognized as a Black woman.
24:10Queen Latifah was the first Black woman to be recognized as a Black woman.
24:14Beat you up if you called her a bitch.
24:19That was so real, that video, remember that video?
24:22She was like, who are you calling a bitch?
24:25I bought the single cassette tape, if you can remember cassettes, of, um, gosh, the
24:32Don't Call Me A Bitch song, the Unity, the Unity song, exactly, U-N-I-T-Y.
24:38I actually had that and got in trouble for having that because I was young and
24:42the profanity was a little something less than what my mother desired at the time.
24:47The U-N-I-T-Y video, because originally I was so used to seeing Queen Latifah in
24:52like those South African, African outfits that she was so very well known in
25:00representing as Queen Latifah, you know, especially during the whole public enemy era.
25:06But the pretty hood girl, you know, had her pretty straight hair in the video.
25:11She was rocking an outfit.
25:13She had lost a lot of weight for that video or just before doing the video.
25:18And so when she did the video, she was kind of coming across as like, U-N-I-T-Y,
25:22like, females, we all look good.
25:25Our men should all treat us good.
25:27And she's basically saying to all the females, but if any man gets stupid with you
25:32and he calls you a bitch, you better knock him out.
25:35So it was just sort of seeing the whole Queen Latifah transitional phase.
25:40And then when she kind of flipped it and lost weight and, you know, had her pretty hair
25:44and was represented for the females, it was like, damn, I remember the video.
25:49I'm envisioning it right now as I'm telling you about it.
25:53Some critics were surprised at how much singing was on the album.
25:56But Queen Latifah just expresses each track the way it works for her.
26:01After the release of Black Rain, Latifah was offered the role of Khadijah
26:05in the new television show Living Single.
26:08Even though she was on the show and had started numerous business ventures
26:11with her friend and partner, Shaquem, under the umbrella of their company,
26:15the Flavor Unit, she still felt numb.
26:18It was 1995, and recovering from Winky's death remained her biggest challenge.
26:24Before she'd really been able to heal, she was hit with another devastating event.
26:29In July 1995, she was in Harlem with her bodyguard, Sean Moon,
26:34when two armed men carjacked her.
26:36She was in the driver's seat.
26:37They told her to get out, and they shot Sean in the stomach.
26:41As the carjackers took the car, Latifah's quick action saved Sean's life.
26:46Without hesitation, she jumped into traffic,
26:48flagging down a car to rush Sean to the hospital.
26:51This close call, along with the trial of the carjackers, all added to her pressures.
26:56In 1996, she was found carrying a gun and marijuana
27:00when the police stopped her for speeding.
27:02It seemed as though Latifah was almost relieved to be caught.
27:05After paying her fines, she was able to start a new beginning for the queen.
27:09She credits seeing a therapist, praying, and the passing of time that helped her the most.
27:18Her TV show continued, providing her structure and enabling Queen Latifah
27:22to bring her positive image into the mainstream with her character Khadijah,
27:26who was a lot like herself with a magazine named Flavor
27:30and an outspoken, upstanding personality.
27:34As she was performing on a regular show, she started to do more films.
27:38She acted opposite Michael Keaton in the film My Life,
27:41and more significantly, in 1996, she was a part of the ensemble cast of Set It Off.
27:51Set It Off is one of my favorite movies of all time.
27:54I really enjoyed her character because it was something that was totally unexpected at the time.
28:00Set It Off, about four African American women, due to financial pressures,
28:05decide to rob banks, has become a film classic.
28:09More than an action film, its compelling characters get you really involved in the film's story.
28:15Latifah especially created a powerful role, playing Cleo.
28:19She says, I was Cleo for five months of my life,
28:23down to the yellow and blue striped Fruit of the Loom briefs.
28:26Oh, Set It Off. Let's talk about Set It Off.
28:30My favorite Queen Latifah movie is definitely Set It Off.
28:34I've seen that movie so many times.
28:36Jada Pinkett, Vivica Fox, Elsie Mill, Queen Latifah,
28:40they're the four females that are robbing banks.
28:42I've seen this movie so many times, and I thought she should have won the Oscar
28:49for portraying Cleo in that movie.
28:53She was hood, she was gangster,
28:57but the biggest part of why I thought she should have won some type of acting award
29:03or gotten some form of credibility for that movie
29:05was because in the very end, when she goes out,
29:09she lights that cigarette, she's in her 6'4", she drops it,
29:12and just, I mean, the part was her playing this hard ass gangster bitch
29:18from the neighborhood that was so in it to win it.
29:21And she was down to rob these banks and get this money.
29:25And she went out so far as to the end of the movie,
29:28running through all the police, and they just shot her down,
29:32and she was blasted everywhere, bullet holes everywhere, and got out the car.
29:35She just was like, I'm gonna fight to the very end.
29:40Her whole scene was so dramatic.
29:42But you didn't expect it.
29:45You didn't expect Queen Latifah to be able to pull it off like that.
29:49She was transitioning from the Queen to being this pretty Queen Latifah
29:54to now being this gangster chick.
29:56I think she even had to gain weight for the role.
29:59But I just love that movie, and I like how she portrayed that character in the movie.
30:06It was crazy.
30:08One of the challenges of the film for Latifah
30:10was kissing her character's girlfriend on screen.
30:13In fact, Latifah was so convincing in her role of a lesbian
30:16that many people began to assume Queen Latifah was gay.
30:19To her credit, Queen Latifah would make no comment at the time.
30:23But in her autobiography, she speaks openly about her relationships with different men.
30:28She also supports gay and lesbian rights.
30:30While Set It Off shows the futility of crime,
30:33five women in Olympia, Washington attempted a similar robbery,
30:37and police found a copy of Set It Off in their shared apartment.
30:41In the year after Set It Off,
30:43she was awarded the Aretha Franklin Award for Entertainer of the Year
30:46at the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards.
30:51In 1998, the Queen released her fourth album, Order in the Court.
30:55While it didn't match the sales of earlier albums,
30:58it was still critically well received.
31:00It was also the first of her albums to be released on her own label, Flavor Unit.
31:05Queen Latifah's business of managing other artists
31:08led her to the releasing of albums of LL Cool J and others.
31:12It was this year that her acting jumped to a whole new level.
31:16She was in several movies, but stole the show in Living Out Loud,
31:20where she played Liz Bailey, a jazz singer.
31:23Not only was her dramatic acting a revelation,
31:26but her performance of complicated jazz standards blew critics away
31:29and scored the Queen a whole new fan base.
31:32In 1999, she came out with her book, Ladies First,
31:38Revelations of a Strong Woman.
31:40Part memoir, part self-help book,
31:43she offers her own life and mistakes as the basis for others to live a good life.
31:48Queenliness, she says, is an attitude that starts on the inside and works its way out.
31:55With her large company, burgeoning film roles,
31:58successful book and multiple albums,
32:00Queen Latifah was more successful than ever,
32:03playing to a wider audience.
32:06Still, she spent significant time in New Jersey with her mother,
32:09who was running Flavor Unit's real estate business
32:12to develop low-income housing options for families.
32:16Queen Latifah started negotiations for her own talk show in 1998.
32:20The show debuted in 1999 and ran for three years.
32:24Interviewing the likes of Al Gore, Whoopi Goldberg,
32:28the show also included ordinary people,
32:30often teens, talking about real problems.
32:33It was important to Queen Latifah that her show provide real solutions for people.
32:37In a time when many talk shows were attempted and failed,
32:40Queen Latifah was very successful.
32:43In the late 90s, as her popularity increased,
32:46she has had her lyrics studied at Harvard and Cambridge universities,
32:50had spoken on panels at Harvard University Law School,
32:54and has been involved in numerous causes,
32:56including gay rights, Rock the Vote,
32:58and the Hip Hop Coalition for Political Power.
33:04What makes Queen Latifah's style as a Hip Hop artist
33:08in comparison to some of the other female Hip Hop artists that are coming out now
33:12is the fact that she's not raunchy, she's not slutty,
33:16she doesn't sell her body to do it.
33:19Not that she would want to, I'm just saying.
33:24What makes her so different is she doesn't have to
33:28use sex in her music,
33:30or use sex as her form of sounding her music
33:33in comparison to the other females now.
33:36And I think what makes her so different is that she has this icon image
33:40of being one of the foremothers of rap, of Hip Hop music.
33:44That just is what makes her different.
33:47She's come a long ways,
33:49and a lot of these female artists now are their neighbor.
33:52Then came Chicago.
33:54Once her second television show was over,
33:56Queen Latifah threw herself into film roles.
33:59To win her Oscar-nominated role of Mama Morton in Chicago,
34:02she had to audition three separate times for the director Rob Marshall.
34:06She notes,
34:07I had to earn this one, three auditions.
34:10There were so many fantastic actors who wanted to play this role
34:13and who could have played the role.
34:15So really, it was a question of the director.
34:17Which mama do you want?
34:19Well, he went with the chocolate mama.
34:23As for Chicago,
34:25Queen Latifah playing a jazz singer
34:28and then just celebrating her sexuality as a woman,
34:31that was something that was wonderful.
34:33It earned her many different magazine covers and editorial spreads
34:38and things like that.
34:40It ushered in this whole new thing about big is beautiful,
34:43which people have obviously rejected or continue to reject.
34:46Queen Latifah has definitely become one of the people at the forefront
34:50of this whole big is beautiful movement,
34:52or I'm beautiful regardless of my size.
34:55It's all about accepting your body and self-confidence.
35:00She's definitely been a pillar for that.
35:02Even before going into the movie that Queen Latifah played in called Chicago,
35:07her TV sitcom,
35:10what was it, Living Single?
35:12Her TV sitcom, Living Single, was a great show.
35:15I'm not much of a sitcom watcher.
35:17I don't watch a lot of television.
35:19But whenever I did catch that show, I thought it was a great show.
35:22I know it lasted a while.
35:23It had many seasons, and it was a good comedy sitcom.
35:27So big ups to her on that sitcom that lasted for quite some time on television.
35:32But when I realized that she was in this movie, Chicago,
35:35which I personally never saw,
35:37but when I realized that she was up for, what was it,
35:42Best Supporting Actress of the Year for the Oscar,
35:45I thought, wow, I mean, I did not see the movie,
35:48but great for her to be nominated,
35:52to come from hip-hop, to come from the hip-hop era,
35:56to be one of the foremothers, so to speak,
35:59of females rapping in the hip-hop game.
36:04I thought, wow, good for her.
36:06Because now Queen Latifah could do it.
36:08Who knows? Little Kim might be able to.
36:11The film won the Best Picture Oscar,
36:13and Queen Latifah performed with her co-star, Catherine Zeta-Jones, at the awards.
36:17They were both nominated for Best Supporting Actress' performances.
36:21And though Zeta-Jones won the award,
36:23their performance of songs from the film at the 2003 Academy Awards
36:27was the highlight of the show.
36:29Approaching the Oscars, she was enjoying huge box office success,
36:33starring in Bringing Down the House with Steve Martin,
36:36which grossed $153 million worldwide.
36:41Queen Latifah remains one of the very few actresses
36:44to be nominated for an Oscar
36:46and breaking box office records at the same time.
36:51When I realized that she produced it, that she put that movie out,
36:55and Steve Martin was the star,
36:57I just thought, wow, she's really going to go far with this.
37:01Because I loved the movie.
37:03I thought it was funny. I thought it was hilarious.
37:05I thought the chemistry that her and Steve Martin probably had to have,
37:09which I heard later, she was a part of the story
37:14and creating even the movie.
37:18I just thought it was great for Queen Latifah because it was so funny.
37:22And my favorite part, my favorite scene in the movie
37:25is the fight scene with her and I think it was,
37:29I don't know who it was, her and the white lady,
37:31in the girls' locker room.
37:33That was the part of the movie that was off the hook.
37:37They beat each other up. It was a good fight.
37:43Sofia, can you get my wife on the phone?
37:45Ex-wife.
37:46Ex-wife on the phone.
37:47For lawyer Peter Sanderson, life was all work and no play.
37:52Daddy can't take you to Hawaii.
37:54He always does this.
37:56Until he went looking for a soulmate.
37:59Did someone make a blind internet date?
38:02And found...
38:04I hope you like sham.
38:06A soul sister.
38:08Pooh.
38:09You must have not have took a good look at that picture.
38:11I have looked at that picture a lot and trust me, you are not in it.
38:16You're a convict?
38:17I did time, baby, but I ain't do the crime.
38:19Shoot, Roscoe cracked that dough,
38:21I kicked it off the heezy and bounce.
38:23What did you just say?
38:25Now...
38:27Oh no.
38:28Swing it, you cocoa goddess.
38:31You have to go.
38:32And you work on my case?
38:33Around the clock.
38:34And I leave when you expunge my record?
38:35Consider it expunged.
38:37She's taking over his life.
38:39This is trespassing.
38:40This is a lot of trespassing.
38:44Winning over his friends.
38:46I'd like to dip you in cheese and spread you over a cracker.
38:50Boy, you are some kind of freaky.
38:52You got me straight tripping, boo.
38:54And opening his eyes.
38:57Charlie, it's cool.
38:58What's wrong with Georgie?
38:59He's having trouble reading.
39:00To the facts of life.
39:02Double D cup.
39:04What are you doing?
39:06You're red.
39:07Dad, what's a rack?
39:09It's a country.
39:10Touchstone Pictures presents
39:12the story of a man who never knew what he was missing
39:15Come on, let's go dance.
39:16All right.
39:17until one woman
39:19You're the bomb.
39:20showed him everything he had.
39:23He never danced like that with me.
39:25He's not the same guy anymore.
39:27Hey, what's the dealio?
39:29We still in love with you.
39:30Steve Martin
39:31I'm gonna help you get your wife back.
39:32You gotta be a beast.
39:34A beast.
39:35Oh my.
39:36Queen Latifah
39:37Charlene
39:38Come on, you're not fooling anybody.
39:40Who that?
39:41Who that?
39:42Who that?
39:44Bringing down the house.
39:54What's up, baby?
39:56I love you.
39:57I love you.
40:02She's really just a roundaway girl.
40:05She's just a regular, a roundaway girl.
40:07She has a lot of talents, like I said.
40:09She's very intelligent.
40:11Obviously she's intelligent enough that she can con this lawyer
40:14into believing that she's a lawyer.
40:18But she's also talented with clothes.
40:20Like, you know, he wants to make her conservative.
40:22Well, she takes those conservative clothes
40:24and gets a stud machine
40:26and adds some studs or some stars or some rhinestones.
40:30Bet you know me now, huh?
40:33This couldn't wait until tonight.
40:35Well, well, well.
40:36Come in, have a seat, spend some time.
40:38Thanks, homeboy.
40:39And no, it can't wait.
40:40You gotta check this out.
40:41What is it?
40:42I found a deposition.
40:43The prosecution interviewed an eyewitness,
40:44and she told them that the perpetrator
40:46didn't have a tattoo on the chest.
40:48They never told my lawyer about this chick.
40:51Ahold of a little paper via that good buddy Peter.
40:56She kind of winds up making a lot of things happen.
40:58I mean, you obviously have pockets of intelligence.
41:01So why do you walk and talk and act the way you do?
41:06Because it's sexy.
41:09It ain't acting.
41:11This is who I am.
41:13I mean, you think I can't talk like you?
41:15Oh, Peter, I absolutely love what you've done with the place.
41:18It's so sterile, so bland, so wonderful.
41:22See? You can do it.
41:24Oh, you like that, huh?
41:26Well, you can kiss my natural black ass,
41:27because I don't need your approval.
41:29Oh, she don't need your approval.
41:31Hey, you don't think I compromise the way I act.
41:33You think I like walking around like an uptight hunky?
41:37Yes, I know your lingo.
41:40And she's totally open to trying new things,
41:43and she goes with the riffing,
41:45and she can go blow for blow
41:47with Steve and Eugene and Joan Plowright.
41:51Steve is hilarious.
41:53Bottom line, it's like you're sitting here
41:54working with a guy who's a legend.
41:56I mean, I grew up watching Steve Martin on Saturday Night Live
41:59and all of his movies.
42:01He's always been...
42:02He was the one we wanted from the beginning.
42:04I mean, before we even, you know,
42:06really started aggressively going out for actors,
42:08he was the one in our mind that we always wanted,
42:10that we knew could pull it off.
42:12And I was just so excited that he was interested in doing it.
42:16In the tradition of buddy comedies,
42:18we dislike each other at first and grow to love each other.
42:21Sort of like planes, trains, and automobiles
42:23with my character with John Candy.
42:25But in the traditional sense, it's a little different.
42:28He's more like a, you know, a visiting goddess
42:34who comes in and changes everybody's lives a little bit
42:37and then flits away.
42:54Eugene is so cool.
42:56He's just...
42:57You know, some people, when they try to imitate black people
43:00or when they try to imitate cool people in general,
43:03they try too hard.
43:05Eugene is so subtle with everything
43:08that he can pull off anything.
43:10If he, when he says,
43:12you got me straight tripping, boo.
43:14It's the same way a guy from Newark, New Jersey would say it
43:17because it's just, like, relaxed and low-key,
43:20you know what I mean?
43:21Charlaine, how about you and I
43:23having a smart cocktail down by the pool?
43:25What do you say?
43:26Who is this fool?
43:27So he pulls off every single stitch of slang
43:30that he has been given,
43:31and half the stuff, he didn't even know what it meant.
43:33I'll just say, say it like this,
43:35and he'll go, hey, da-da-da-da-da.
43:38He'll just spit it out, and it's perfect.
43:40And then I'll explain to him what he said, you know?
43:43Or I'll explain it to him so he can have the, you know,
43:46the feeling, the emotion behind it.
43:48But he's just flawless, man.
43:50He's just...
43:51It's crazy working with these guys, you know?
43:54They're the best.
43:55I'm the young one around here.
43:56I'm the junior.
43:57Bringing Down the House, on the other hand,
44:00is not one of my favorite movies.
44:03It doesn't really aim high,
44:05or rank high on the list of things
44:07that I like about Queen Latifah's career,
44:10but it was a crossover success,
44:12and it brought her to a whole other audience,
44:15albeit, to me, at the expense
44:17of some of her street credibility
44:19because it was criticized as being a modern-day
44:24form of minstrelsy.
44:26And I was one of those people who deemed it as such.
44:30I felt that her role was very sensationalized,
44:34very stereotypical.
44:36I didn't too much appreciate the jokes
44:38that were made throughout the movie
44:40or Steve Martin's portrayal.
44:42It was...
44:44It bothered me a little bit,
44:45and I found it to be, like, a step backward for her,
44:50with her black audience, anyway.
44:52But it earned her a lot of money,
44:53and in this entertainment industry,
44:55it's all about the dollar.
44:56And she got it, and it did very well.
44:58It opened, I believe, number one,
44:59stayed there for maybe a week or two or whatever.
45:01It was very successful.
45:03The DVD even sold a lot.
45:05But I feel that it definitely was at the...
45:08That was one of the things that was at the expense
45:10of her street credibility for maintaining that.
45:14Her $1 million payday for Bringing Down the House
45:17was soon eclipsed by her involvement
45:19for eight figures and profit participation
45:22with the excellent Barbershop franchise.
45:24She appeared with Ice Cube and Barbershop 2
45:27back in business.
45:29The appearance was to set the stage
45:31for her own franchise, Beauty Shop.
45:33Back in the studio, Queen Latifah's next album,
45:37the Dana Owens album,
45:38was a record of jazz standards,
45:40including covers of the Beach Boys,
45:42Al Green, the Mamas and the Papas.
45:45Now critics are hailing her as a cabaret star.
45:48She has a song right now on Hot 92.3 Jams
45:51here in Los Angeles, which is an R&B station.
45:53And I don't remember what the song is,
45:55but it's a remake to an oldie.
45:57But it's really good. It's really good.
45:59So to see her transition from...
46:01I mean, going back to that song she did with Faith Evans,
46:04it was an R&B song,
46:05so it's not the first time that I've heard
46:07Queen Latifah sing R&B and use her voice,
46:10whereas she's not rapping
46:12and she's not portraying a hip-hop artist image.
46:15But in seeing her portray an R&B artist image
46:19by singing and yelping out,
46:21she's doing a great job, and it sounds good.
46:24I'm especially loving her jazz,
46:27the jazz thing that she's going into right now.
46:29I have a friend who has the album, and I love it.
46:31She has some wonderful voices,
46:33both a singer and a rapper.
46:35She's very influential for not every female rapper out there,
46:39and probably some men as well.
46:40She's always been really brash and very honest,
46:43but very sincere, and she seemed to be true to herself,
46:47and she's carried that throughout her very long career.
46:50And so that's one thing I can definitely say I respect about her.
46:52She's remained the same,
46:53even with hosting the Grammys
46:57and all these other big award shows that she's been on,
47:00these other places that she's been in,
47:02like Chicago and things like that.
47:04She's always remained the same down-to-earth New Jersey girl,
47:07so I really respect her for that.
47:10The album was nominated for the Best Female Jazz Performance Grammy.
47:14The only twist this time?
47:16Not only was Queen Latifah performing at the Grammys,
47:19she was hosting them as well.
47:21With one fantastic costume change after another,
47:24her grace and humor made for an excellent evening of music awards.
47:28Even though she didn't take home the Grammy,
47:30Queen Latifah was undisputed star of the evening.
47:34For Queen Latifah to be picked to host something
47:37as prestigious as the Grammys
47:39definitely shows that she's respected in entertainment,
47:42and she did a wonderful job.
47:44People criticized her for not being, I think,
47:47some people criticized her, rather,
47:49for not being as open and brash as she could have been,
47:53but she had a job to fulfill, and she did it very well.
47:56She made it entertaining.
47:57She wasn't trying to crack too many jokes.
47:59She was a really good host for the Grammys, I believe, this year.
48:02She recently hosted the Grammy Awards,
48:05and she just does it with such personality.
48:09Like, she's so easy and cool to get along with.
48:14One time I was at the House of Blues,
48:16and Queen Latifah was there,
48:17and I was with the artist Faith Evans,
48:20who was once married to The Notorious B.I.G.
48:22And at that time, you know, I was really close to Faith,
48:25and we were hanging out,
48:26and Queen Latifah had came up to the table,
48:28and I guess it was kind of her first time meeting Faith as well.
48:31And because I had known Faith,
48:32and I had been a personal friend of hers,
48:34you know, she came up and kind of introduced herself
48:37and came up to the table.
48:38And this whole image that I had of Queen Latifah
48:42being this iconic queen of hip-hop,
48:46like, kind of dominary,
48:47it really changed when I actually met her that night
48:50with Faith Evans at the House of Blues.
48:52And I think what changed was the fact that
48:55I realized, you know, she was cool.
48:57She was, we laughed, and I remember I was like,
49:00yo, Tifa, you know,
49:01I personally took a personal liking to her,
49:05I mean a personal,
49:06I kind of took my attitude like,
49:08I personally knew her, it seemed this way.
49:11And I was like, yo, Tifa,
49:13and she was like, Tifa?
49:14Oh, you gonna call me Tifa?
49:16Like, we knew each other like that.
49:18But as the conversation continued,
49:20I just realized that I was being able to flow with her
49:23like a homegirl next door,
49:25a homegirl that you grew up with.
49:27And that's what I realized later,
49:30that as she grew into, you know,
49:32being nominated for an Oscar just recently,
49:34that her personality probably had a lot to do
49:38with her growing as now an actor.
49:40She's appealing to women, first and foremost,
49:43because she is very comfortable,
49:46or appears to be very comfortable in her own skin,
49:49and she doesn't conform physically
49:53to the standards of Hollywood.
49:55And so, with that, she's become a role model
49:58for larger size women,
50:00for women who just have, you know,
50:02their own things about their body,
50:04their own problems with their body,
50:05because she's teaching people
50:06to be accepting of your situation
50:08and to make the best of it,
50:09because she has,
50:10and she's being celebrated for that.
50:12To men, I think they really admire her
50:17down-to-earthness as a character,
50:19to women too,
50:20but, you know, to men,
50:21because she's not seen as a sex symbol in Hollywood,
50:24she's actually revered as a pretty good actress,
50:27a pretty good entertainer,
50:28and I think that comes a lot from her ability
50:31to remain, or appear, down-to-earth,
50:34you know, in front of the camera and off the camera.
50:36Icon, hip-hop legend,
50:39a female hip-hop legend,
50:41a queen,
50:43la reina,
50:45which definitely means queen in Spanish,
50:48and prestige.
50:51Prestige.
50:52I just think the word prestigious,
50:55you know, royalty,
50:59and very nice.
51:00I think overall,
51:02those are the words that to me
51:03best describe Queen Latifah as ours.
51:06Finally, Dana Owens.
51:10Here is what Primer Magazine
51:11had to say about the queen.
51:14Just as she did with the rap world,
51:16Latifah is now flipping the script in Hollywood.
51:19Not only does she run her own company,
51:21Flavor Unit,
51:22with her long-time business partner and manager,
51:24Shaquem.
51:26She's being cast in roles that were written
51:28for white guys and skinny starlets.
51:30She also has her eyes on directing.
51:33In the next 12 months or so,
51:35hopefully, I will have found that little gem,
51:38something I really feel good stepping out on.
51:42Talk to the people in the industry about Latifah,
51:45and they will bring up her presence,
51:47her realness,
51:48qualities that make her simultaneously starlight,
51:51yet absolutely unpretentious.
51:54It's this dichotomy that lets her appeal
51:57to a broad audience and excel
51:59in both comedy and drama.
52:01She has a certain looseness,
52:03says her Bringing Down the House co-star Steve Martin.
52:06On camera, off camera,
52:07she's the same person.
52:08Confident, strong, a natural.
52:11When she races up to the Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel
52:14in her black 1965 Ford Mustang convertible
52:17and hands you a bag of peanut M&M's,
52:20king size, no less,
52:22as an olive branch,
52:24it's hard not to think of this queen
52:26as truly a person of the people
52:28and for the people.
52:30And this is what she said.
52:32I know who I am.
52:33I'm a young African-American woman,
52:35and that has a meaning.
52:37I do have a responsibility to my people,
52:39and I do have a responsibility as a woman,
52:41but that is up to me.
52:43And not anybody else.
52:45I don't put people in a box,
52:47and I never wanted to be put in a box myself.
52:50Where do I think Queen Latifah will be in 10 years?
52:53I mean, I just think she's going to keep blowing it up.
52:56She might very well win that Oscar
52:58if she keeps moving and growing in her acting life.
53:03You know, she runs a management company, Flavor Unit.
53:06I don't know what artists they're currently managing,
53:09but she continues to grow a lot with other artists
53:12by building their careers.
53:19What makes her so appealing is the fact that
53:21Dana Owens, which is her real name,
53:24and her album is titled Dana Owens,
53:27is the fact that she's still Dana Owens.
53:30She's Queen Latifah in her music.
53:33She's Queen Latifah, maybe even when she acts.
53:37But overall, she's just Dana Owens.
53:40She's remained the same even with hosting the Grammys
53:45and all these other big award shows that she's been on,
53:47these other places that she's been in,
53:49like Chicago and things like that.
53:51She's always remained the same down-to-earth New Jersey girl.
53:54So I really respect her for that.
53:56I think I would just say that Queen Latifah, keep doing it.
53:59Keep doing what you're doing.
54:01I've grown with you through the years
54:03and working in the music industry,
54:05and working alongside you amongst many things.
54:08I think personally, in the times that I've met you,
54:10you were just cool, you were down.
54:12You seem like someone that you smoke a blunt with in a minute.
54:16You also seem like someone that will get blunt with you in a minute
54:20and set you straight.
54:22But you also, in the times that I've met you,
54:25seem like a person that you could just talk to and build with.
54:29And seeing all the different things that you've done,
54:32from TV to movies to all of your music,
54:36I just see you as someone that has big credibility
54:39in this entertainment music industry, entertainment industry.
54:42And I think I'm just going to keep riding with whatever you've got coming out.
54:46Beauty Shop is up next.
54:48I can't wait to see it.
54:49And I think whatever I see stamped with your approval on it,
54:52I'll be down with it.
55:06Beauty Shop
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