It’s hard to believe that Queen Latifah was just a teenager when she spurned her employment at Burger King in East Orange, N.J., and dropped her debut “All Hail to the Queen” on the hip-hop world. She is what we called “old head” — an old mind atop of young shoulders who spat hard-edged, conscious rap to counter the increasing misogyny permeating the genre at the time.
The daughter and niece of police officers was always no-nonsense about her game and right off the rip of her hip hop career, she exuded class, dignity and an undeniable sense of self that immediately catapulted her to the forefront of the burgeoning genre. She explains where that sense of style and politically-tinged rap originated from. “I wasn’t the best-looking student. But I thought I was cute,” she tells PEOPLE. “I was well-liked and definitely had style.” With two friends, Latifah forms a rhyming group called Ladies Fresh. “I was attracted to the sound and the content and the freedom of rap,” Latifah tells the Los Angeles Times.
Since her powerful beginning, Queen has released seven studio albums and won a Grammy Award, celebrity worth.com states. She has also appeared in numerous films and television shows, and has won a Golden Globe, two SAG Awards, and been nominated for an Emmy and an Oscar, according to imdb.com.
