Queen Latifah: Singin' In The Reign

She has one of the greatest stories Rap has ever known. Dana Owens came up in the east coast, enthralled by a young, budding Rap culture, enchanted by promising emcees and filled with a passion for poetry and music. A young, driven beat-box loving girl, she grew to enjoy the uplifting allure of the microphone rockin’ element, channeling her poetic spirit to what would become a powerful female emcee’s rhymes, something many weren’t ready for.

Eventually, those rhymes would become anthems for many as she rhymed for “U.N.I.T.Y.” and respect, pushing her name towards legendary status as she went from sneaking in to small clubs in New York to breaking out on Broadway. Her resume is as impressive as any you will find in the genre, one stocked with incredible accolades and nominations. She’s won a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Grammy to match six other nominations, an Emmy nomination and an Academy Award nomination for her part in Chicago. By now, it’s clear that Dana Owens has gone beyond Hip Hop’s beautiful graffiti’d walls but she acknowledges that Hip Hop is where it all began. The culture that the young girl from Jersey fell in love with has allowed her to, as she put it, “do a whole lot” for two decades.

While she was introduced to Rap at an early age, she was also confronted with hardship and pain early on. As a young girl, she was sexually abused, a moment in time that scarred her for years, something that she has rarely talked about in her long and illustrious career. But, the rain didn’t stop with that painful and traumatic experience. Later, as the accolades and awards kept pouring in, she couldn’t resist the tears from pouring out because while her career had taken off, her brother, Lancelot H. Owens, couldn’t celebrate the success with her. On April 26, 1992, he died in a tragic motorcycle accident just as his sister’s career was gaining momentum. With the release of her new album Black Reign and the success of her television show Living Single, it should have been the time of her life, but instead it was a nightmare to live through. “I couldn’t even feel it or enjoy it because I was just so depressed.” Like many before her have done when faced with unbearable suffering, Queen looked to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain she felt, only to find that it worsened her condition, adding more layers of agony.

Obstacles, tragedy and hardship couldn’t hold her down. After speaking with her, you get a sense that she’s a “hopeful” spirit, one that has managed to turn every negative into a positive, not just for her, but for others, too. So, while she had a lot to endure, she also had a lot to give. See, her success isn’t solely based on the remarkable achievements, though they are enough to make any entertainer proud. Her success is based more on the positive effect she’s had on the culture and the world.

Recently, the celebrated emcee, singer, activist and actress candidly spoke to HipHopDX about all of this. She not only spoke on the state of Rap, her successes and her upbringing. She was also sincere about the pain she suffered as a child, the heartbreaking loss of her brother and the fight to come out of deep depression to become a positive light for others to follow. Sure, she’s lived a life that can be concidered one of Rap’s greatest success stories already, but with her latest album, Persona, in stores and a slew of other projects coming soon, Queen Latifah is far from done. The Reign continues. Long live the Queen.

Read more on the Queen here........................
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.1414