Queen Latifah

Why she matters

Dana Owens was born in Newark and grew up mostly in East Orange, finishing at Irvington High School. She started out beatboxing for a group called Ladies Fresh and came up inside the Flavor Unit, a crew of MCs around producer DJ King Gemini. His demo of her song “Princess of the Posse” reached Fab 5 Freddy, then Dante Ross at Tommy Boy, who signed her and put out “Wrath of My Madness” in 1989.

All Hail the Queen followed that November, when she was nineteen. Read the producer credits: DJ Mark the 45 King, KRS-One, Prince Paul, Daddy-O, Louie Vega. That’s boom-bap, house, reggae and jazz on one record, and it holds together because her voice does. “Ladies First,” with Monie Love, is the one people remember. The Library of Congress added the album to the National Recording Registry in 2023.

After Nature of a Sista’ in 1991 she moved to Motown for Black Reign (1993), the first album by a solo female rapper to go gold. Its single “U.N.I.T.Y.,” produced by KayGee of Naughty by Nature, took on violence against women and the way Black women got objectified, without going soft on the beat. It won a Grammy. She had also steered a young East Orange trio called the New Style toward Tommy Boy and her management company. They changed their name and became Naughty by Nature.

Most people now know her from Living Single, Set It Off and Chicago. The rap records came first, and that’s where the habits were built.

What a working rapper can take from it

Pick the subject nobody else in the room is covering. Latifah wrote about domestic violence, street harassment and how rap talked about women, at a time when most of her peers weren’t touching any of it. A position gives a verse a spine, and it makes you easier to remember than another round of boasts. The verse-writing guide has exercises for finding yours.

Your voice is what makes a mixed palette work. All Hail the Queen jumps from hip-hop to house to reggae, and it never sounds like a compilation. If you’re working with several producers, keep the delivery, the attitude and the vocal chain consistent so the listener always knows whose record it is. The vocal recording guide covers the chain side.

Build the crew, then hold the door. Flavor Unit started as a crew of MCs, and in 1995 she co-launched it as a company with Shakim Compere. Bringing Naughty by Nature to her label and management worked out for everybody. A local scene grows when whoever gets in first brings the next people through.