Queen Latifah is an American rapper, jazz/blues singer, and actress. Born Dana Owens, she has released seven studio albums, six of which were hip hop-influenced albums and two that were all-singing jazz-influenced albums. She has released a total of twenty-three singles as well. She has been given the title the "Queen of Jazz Rap".
Latifah released two albums, All Hail the Queen and Nature of a Sista', before breaking through with her 1993 album Black Reign. Black Reign received a gold certification in the United States, reaching number 60 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and number 15 on the US R&B chart. The album has sold 491,000 copies in the United States. After a five-year hiatus, she released Order in the Court on June 16, 1998. The album was a disappointment, selling only 100,000 copies in the United States. After, Latifah released a greatest hits compilation entitled She's the Queen: A Collection of Hits.
Latifah once again found success in 2004 with her fifth studio album, The Dana Owens Album. The album was a success, charting at number 16 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. In 2007, Latifah released her sixth studio album, Trav'lin' Light through Flavor Unit/Verve Records. In 2009, Latifah released her seventh album, Persona through Flavor Unit/Universal Records.
Albums Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales Certifications US USR&B/HH USJazz CAN CANR&B All Hail the QueenReleased: November 7, 1989 Label: Tommy Boy Formats: CD, LP, cassette, digital download1246——— Nature of a Sista'Released: September 3, 1991 Label: Tommy Boy Formats: CD, LP, cassette, digital download11732——— US: 273,000 Black ReignReleased: November 16, 1993 Label: Flavor Unit, Motown Formats: CD, LP, cassette, digital download6015———US: 491,000 RIAA: Gold Order in the CourtReleased: June 16, 1998 Label: Flavor Unit, Motown Formats: CD, digital download9516———US: 100,000 The Dana Owens AlbumReleased: September 28, 2004 Label: Flavor Unit, A&M, Universal, Vector Formats: CD, LP, Cassette, digital download1611—15935US: 730,000 RIAA: Gold Trav'lin' LightReleased: September 25, 2007 Label: Flavor Unit, Verve Formats: CD, LP, Cassette, digital download1161——US: 263,000 PersonaReleased: August 25, 2009 Label: Flavor Unit/Universal Formats: CD, digital download253———US: 18,000 "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Compilation albums + List of compilation albums Title Album details Sales She's a Queen: A Collection of Hits Released: December 10, 2002 Label: Flavor Unit, Motown Formats: CD, digital downloadUS: 10,000 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Queen Latifah Released: March 22, 2005 Label: Hip-O, Motown, Chronicles, UMe Formats: CD, digital download Hip-Hop Hits Released: May 24, 2005 Label: Flashback Formats: CD
Group albums + List of group albums Title Album details The 45 King Presents The Flavor Unit(compilation – as part of Flavor Unit) Released: July 1, 1991 Label: Tuff City Formats: CD, LP, cassette Roll wit tha Flava(compilation – as part of Flavor Unit) Released: May 4, 1993 Label: Epic/Flavor Unit Formats: CD, LP, cassette Flavor Unit 10th Anniversary, Vol. 1(compilation – as part of Flavor Unit) Released: March 7, 2000 Label: Flavor Unit Formats: CD 100% Hater Proof(as part of The Unit) Released: October 8, 2002 Label: EMI/Flavor Unit Formats: CD
Collaborative albums + List of collaborative albums Title Album details Queen Latifah and the Original Flavor Unit(compilation – with the Original Flavor Unit) Released: June 18, 1996 Label: Ol' Skool Flava Formats: CD (re-issue), LP
Singles As lead artist {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" |+ List of singles and selected chart positions, showing year released and album name ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year ! scope="col" colspan="10"| Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US Dance ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US R&B ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US Rap ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US AC ! style="width:2em;font-size:90%;"| EURAs featured performer European singles chart peaks:
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| NZ ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| UK ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| UK Dance ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| UK R&B
! scope="row"| "Wrath of My Madness/Princess of the Posse" | 1988 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center" rowspan="5"|All Hail the Queen |- ! scope="row"| "Dance for Me/Inside Out" |rowspan="2"|1989 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| 14 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| —
! scope="row"| "Ladies First"(featuring Monie Love) |align="center"| — |align="center"| 38 |align="center"| 64 |align="center"| 5 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| —
! scope="row"| "Come Into My House/Ladies First" |rowspan="2"|1990 |align="center"| — |align="center"| 7 |align="center"| 81 |align="center"| 21 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| —
! scope="row"| "Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children"(featuring De La Soul) |align="center"| — |align="center"| 28 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| 37 |align="center"| — |align="center"| 14 |align="center"| — |align="center"| —
! scope="row"| "Fly Girl/Nature of a Sista'" |rowspan="2"|1991 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| 16 |align="center"| 19 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| 37 |align="center"| 67 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center" rowspan="3"|Nature of a Sista
! scope="row"| "Latifah's Had It Up 2 Here/That's the Way We Flow" |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| 13 |align="center"| 8 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| —
! scope="row"| "How Do I Love Thee" | 1992 |align="center"| — |align="center"| 19 |align="center"| 32 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| —
! scope="row"| "U.N.I.T.Y." |1993 |align="center"| 23 |align="center"| — |align="center"| 7 |align="center"| 2 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| 15 |align="center"| 74 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center" rowspan="5"|Black Reign
! scope="row"| "Just Another Day..." |rowspan="4"|1994 |align="center"| 54 |align="center"| — |align="center"| 37 |align="center"| 11 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| —
! scope="row"| "Black Hand Side" |align="center"| — |align="center" rowspan="2"|— |align="center" rowspan="2"|29 |align="center"| 20 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| —
! scope="row"| "Weekend Love" |align="center"| 70 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center" rowspan="2"|38 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| —
! scope="row"| "I Can't Understand" |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |- ! scope="row"| "Mr. Big Stuff"(with Shades and Free) |rowspan="2"| 1997 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| 31 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — | The Associate Soundtrack
! scope="row"| "It's Alright"(featuring Lil' Mo) |align="center"| 77 |align="center"| — |align="center"| 31 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| 86 |align="center"| 25 |align="center"| 27 | Nothing to Lose Soundtrack / Order in the Court
! scope="row"| "Bananas (Who You Gonna Call?)"(featuring Apache) |rowspan="2"|1998 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| 2 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center" rowspan="2"|Order in the Court|- ! scope="row"| "Paper"(featuring Pras) |align="center"| 50 |align="center"| — |align="center"| 23 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |- ! scope="row"| "Everywhere You Go"(featuring Sara Jane) |2001 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — | What's the Worst That Could Happen? Soundtrack |- ! scope="row"| "Poetry Man" |rowspan="2"|2007 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| 23 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — | rowspan="2"|Trav'lin' Light |- ! scope="row"| "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |- ! scope="row"| "Champion" |2008 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — | AT&T Team USA Soundtrack and Persona (Deluxe edition)
! scope="row"| "Cue the Rain" |rowspan="2"|2009 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — | Persona
! scope="row"| "Walk the Dinosaur"(from Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs) |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |rowspan="2" |- ! scope="row"| "The Star-Spangled Banner" |2015 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |align="center"| — |- | colspan="13" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
As featured artist