Queen Latifah

American singer whose debut album, "All Hail the Queen," came out in 1989. She won a Grammy for the Best Rap Solo Performance for U.N.I.T.Y. in 1994. Her fourth album, "Order in the Court" hit the stores in mid-1998. While still in high school, Latifah was a power forward in State Championship basketball. She was trained in karate by her policeman dad. In 1992, her brother, Lance Owens, Jr., was killed in a motorcycle accident. Within two years of her graduation she was a rap star and the epitome of the supreme, full-figured black woman. She had started her development when she was 11 with a mature bosom. As a child, she claims to have never been satisfied with the name her parents gave her. The artist pulled the name Latifah from a book of Muslim names and chose the Queen part because she wanted to be a rap artist and is quoted saying, "I am definitely Queen of the Universe." She started out as many young people do, working at a fast food chain. Moving into business ownership, she took over a video store. In 1993 she was pulled over for speeding and arrested for marijuana possession and carrying an unlicensed handgun. In 1995 she was charged in a municipal misdemeanor complaint after 240 illegally copied tapes were found in the store, a year after she had sold it. Queen's latest episode with the law was an unsafe lane change that prompted police to pull over her Cadillac Escalade, 11/20/2002, 3:1 AM, in Los Angeles, CA. She was noted as being under the influence and arrested after failing a sobriety test. As an actress, Latifah's films include "Jungle Fever," 1991, "Set it Off," a lesbian bank robber in 1996 and "Sphere," 1998, and on TV has played a guest stint on "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," 1991. Never too far from the world of business, she runs her own promo company in the '90s, "Flavor Unit Management." For five years, she downplayed her 5' 10" beauty on the TV sitcom, "Living Single." In mid-1997, Latifah wrote a book on self-esteem and self-respect entitled "From the Heart of a Queen." The book was not an autobiography, but did draw from her experiences growing up as a child. Claiming that the last four or five years have been the hardest for her emotionally, after her brothers death and going through a period of being out of touch, Latifah sought help from a psychologist recommended to her by Jada Pinkett. In her hobby time, she enjoys motorcycling, impromptu softball games and cookouts. She declines to name her beau to retain some privacy. In the fall of 1999, she has a syndicated talk show scheduled. Link to Wikipedia biography