Owens' mother & father (the policeman), divorced after she was eight years old. Latifah's 1st large profits was singing a total "Home" from either The Wiz in a school performance of the musical theater.

She began her career beatboxing for rap group Ladies Fresh. Local DJ Mark the 45 King heard a demonstration version of Latifah's individual "Princess of the Posse" in 1988, gave the demonstration to Fab Five Freddy, who was so carrier of Yo! MTV Raps, and Fab 5 Freddy helped Latifah get signed to Tommy Boy Records, which released Latifah's first album, All Hail the Queen (1989), when she was 18. This debut wwhen critically acclaimed as one of a better hip hop albums of all time & was followed by Nature of a Sista, another easily-reviewed album. From either 1993 to 1998 Latifah starred on Living Single, a FOX sitcom; she also wrote & performed its theme music.

Her older brother Lance was flushed within 1992 in an accident on the bike that Latifah experienced upright bought him. She however wears a key to the bike as much as her neck. Latifah freed an album dedicated to him, Black Reign, which was the hit partially because of a hit lone, U.N.I.T.Y. In 1995, she was the victim of a carjacking, in which a friend of hers was shot. Inside 1996 she was arrested in possession of the little total of marijuana & a gun; she was fined and sentenced to 2 years probation.

Within 1998, she made an album entitled Sequentially in the Court. Around 2003, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Matron "Mama" Morton in the picture show musical theater Chicago. Within 2003, she co-starred with Steve Martin in the marginally well standard comedy Bringing Down the House, as a woman who is "mismatched" across the legal advice chatroom by owning Martin's character. More recent motion-picture show Latifah has appeared within come Scary Movie 3, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Taxi, and Beauty Shop.

She stands Little phoebe'Ix". Her stage name Latifah, meaning "delicate" and "sensitive" in Arabic, was given to her when she was eight by her cousin.

Discography
1989 All Hail the Queen (Tommy Boy) 1991 Nature of a Sista (Tommy Boy) 1993 Black Reign (Motown) 1998 Order in the Court (Motown) 2004 Dana Owens Album (Interscope)

Filmography
Jungle Fever (1991) House Party 2 (1991) Juice (1992) ''Who's the Man? (1993) (Cameo) My Life (1993) Set If Off (1996) Hoodlum (1997) Sphere (1998) Living Out Loud (1998) The Bone Collector (1999) Bringing Out the Dead (1999) (voice only) The Country Bears (2002) Brown Sugar (2002) Pinocchio (2002) (voice in U.S. version) Chicago (2002) Bringing Down the House (2003) (also executive producer) Scary Movie 3 (2003) Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004) The Cookout (2004) (also producer) Taxi (2004) Beauty Shop (2005) (also producer) Last Holiday (2005) (currently in post-production) Stranger Than Fiction (2006) (currently filming)

TV Work
Living Single (1993-1998) Mama Flora's Family (1998) The Queen Latifah Show (1999-2001) (also executive producer) Living with the Dead (2002) (miniseries) The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005)

Awards

Academy Award Best Supporting Actress Chicago nomination

Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Bringing Down the House 2004

BET Award Best Actress 2003

SAG Award Best Ensemble Chicago'' 2003

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