In Honor Of...

...Pop culture icon, Queen Latifah, who is worth noting on Set List.

Dana Elaine Owens - Queen Latifah

"Queen of Rap" & "Queen of Hip-Hop"

"First Lady of Hip-Hop"

b. March 18, 1970

American rapper, singer, & actress

Honors -

Grammy Award 

Primetime Emmy Award

Golden Globe Award

2 Screen Actors Guild Awards

2 NAACP Image Awards

Academy Award Nomination

Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2006)

Artist of the Year by the Harvard Foundation (2003)

Inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame (2011)

Nearly 2 million albums sold in the U.S. throughout Latifah's career

Entertainment Icon award by American Black Film Festival (2017)

Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts by Rutgers University (2018)

W.E.B. Du Bois Medal by Harvard University (2019)

BET Lifetime Achievement Award (2021)

Kennedy Center Honoree

Discography -

All Hail the Queen (1989 - Debut)

(Inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry, 1998 ... "Ladies First" No. 35 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop, 2008 ... No. 6 on Billboard Top Hip Hop/R&B Album chart ... No. 124 on Billboard 200)

Nature of a Sista' (1991)

(No. 117 on Billboard 200 ... Sold 500,000 copies worldwide ... No. 32 on Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart ... Generally favorable reviews despite low sales)

Black Reign (1993)

(No. 60 on Billboard 200 ... No. 15 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart ... Certified Gold in the U.S.  with 503,000 in sales ... "U.N.I.T.Y." - Top 40 on Billboard Hot 100/Grammy award)

Order in the Court (1998)

(Queen Latifah's first album to note "Parental Advisory")

The Dana Owens Album (2004)

(No. 16 on Billboard 200 ... No. 11 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart ... Certified Gold in the U.S.)

Trav'lin' Light (2007)

(No. 1 on Billboard Jazz Albums chart ... Grammy nomination)

Persona (2009)

(No. 25 on Billboard 200 ... No. 3 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart)

Filmography -

- Starred in the sitcom, Living Single, from 1993 to 1998

- Lead role in the action film, Set It Off (1996)

- Daytime talk show, The Queen Latifah Show, from 1999 to 2001

- "Matron "Mama" Morton" in the musical film, Chicago (2002), garnered an Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress

- Bringing Down the House (2003)

- Taxi (2004)

- Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2005)

- Beauty Shop (2005)

- Last Holiday (2006)

- Hairspray (2007)

- Joyful Noise (2012)

- 22 Jump Street (2014)

- Girls Trip (2017)

- Portrayed blues singer, Bessie Smith (2015), in the HBO film, Bessie...Garnered a Primetime Emmy Award

- Starred in the musical drama series, Star, from 2016 to 2019

- "Hattie McDaniel" in the 2020 miniseries, Hollywood

- Lead role on CBS's action drama, The Equalizer (2021 - Present)

Critical acclaim -

"...certainly not the first female rapper, but she was the first one to become a bona fide star..." - Steve Huey, AllMusic

"...rap's first feminist..." - Jessie Carney Smith, Notable Black American Women

"...one of the major forerunners for women in modern hip-hop..." - Variety

"...pioneer of female rap..." - The Guardian 

Notes -

- "Ladies First" was listed on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll 

- Influence on R&B, Soul, & Hip-Hop artists as well as actors and authors

- Considered a fashion icon by Vogue (2020)

"...helped to start a conversation about body image that continues to this day..."

(Wikipedia)