小简介
奎因-拉蒂法以充满热情的演唱、高昂的旋律,成为了20世纪90年代最著名的女性Hip-Hop歌手之一。1995年曾以一曲《一心一意》(“U.N.I.T.Y.”)获得当年格莱美最佳Rap歌手奖。后来,她在银幕上的出色表现,也令她名声鹊起。
奎因-拉蒂法1970年3月18日出生于新泽西州东橘市(East Orange)的一个警察世家,父亲和哥哥小兰斯-欧文斯(Lance Owens Jr.)都是警察,母亲是一所中学的艺术教师、行政人员。父亲曾教授她和哥哥空手道及射击。9岁时父母离异,哥哥死于她送给他的礼物----摩托车的交通事故,她颈上至今仍带着那辆摩托车的钥匙。这一切对她的演唱风格和人生哲学都产生了深刻的影响。
奎因后来加入纽约市曼哈顿社区大学学习。出于对男性主宰的打击乐的不满,她自己取名奎因-拉蒂法(源自十几岁时堂兄给她起的“拉蒂法”绰号,在阿拉伯语表示优雅、敏感的意思),开始投身于说唱乐艺术。不久即以揉合了爵士乐和传统音乐的Hip-Hop风格在乐坛脱颖而出,成为最早的女子Hip-Hop乐队成员及代表人物,被誉为“饶舌界第一夫人”,并随即开始改变人们对Hip-Hop音乐的看法。工夫不负有心人,她独特的理念和开拓精神,1988年18岁的奎因终于得以灌制了个人首张单曲《愚蠢的愤怒》(“Wrath of My Madness”),第二年发行了首张专辑《致敬奎因》(“All Hail the Queen”)。
90年代初,奎因开始了银幕表演生涯,以开朗的性格形象出现,并日益受到欢迎。1991年,她在著名黑人导演斯派克-李(Spike Lee)执导的爱情片《热带丛林》(“Jungle Fever”)完成了首次银幕亮相。奎因以直言不讳的性格和强烈的女权主义形象使得她在以后的影片中频频出镜,她自己则称这是一些尖声嚷嚷的角色。1992年,她在欧内斯特-R-迪科尔森(Ernest R. Dickerson)执导的犯罪惊悚片《哈雷兄弟》(“Juice”)中,饰演国会议员拉夫豪斯(Ruffhouse)。1993年至1997年,她因出演福克斯公司(Fox)的电视连续剧《我的女友》(“Living Single”),而在电视界引起轰动。同年,她在著名编导布鲁斯-乔尔-罗宾斯(Bruce Joel Rubin)执导的剧情片《情深到来生》(“My Life”) 里,饰演照顾身患癌症、行将死去的迈克尔-基顿(Michael Keaton)的护理师,演来很令人信服。著名女演员妮可-基德曼(Nicole Kidman)也参加了此片的拍摄。1996年,她参加了加里-格雷(Gary Gray)执导的《辣姊妹》(“Set It Off”),这是一部反映4位黑人妇女与生活窘境相抗争的影片,她在片中饰演4姐妹中的克莉奥(Cleo),一位与贫困作斗争的女性同性恋者,首次显现出了对表演艺术的天赋,她为了拍这部影片掉了25磅,获得了当年独立精神奖最佳女配角提名。
1997年,奎因在美国著名导演比尔-杜克(Bill Duke)执导的黑帮犯罪片《暴徒》(“Hoodlum”)中饰演苏莉(Sulie)一角。1998年,参加了著名导演巴里-莱文森(Barry Levinson)执导的科幻片《地动天惊》(“Sphere”)的拍摄。同年,她还在理查德-拉格拉文尼斯(Richard LaGravenese)执导、霍利-亨特(Holly Hunter)和丹尼-德维托(Danny DeVito)主演的爱情喜剧片《勇敢说爱》(“Living Out Loud”)中担任配角。1999年,参加了著名澳大利亚导演菲利浦-诺伊斯(Phillip Noyce)执导的悬念惊悚片《人骨拼图》(“The Bone Collector”)的拍摄,影片由丹泽尔-华盛顿(Denzel Washington)和安吉丽娜-朱丽(Angelina Jolie)主演。随着奎因在银幕中的戏份越来越多,1999年她得以《奎因-拉蒂法秀》(“Queen Latifah Show”)的形式开设电视专栏,成为美国知名的主持人。在哥哥车祸身亡之后,这位富有天赋的女歌手一直坚持战胜困难、保持乐观、开创性的心态,保持了一位创新、催人向上的歌手本色。
2002年,对于奎因来说是极为忙碌的一年,她出演了多部电视和电影,包括:她与哈利-乔尔-奥兹蒙特(Haley Joel Osment)和克里斯托弗-沃肯(Christopher Walken)联合主演、彼得-黑斯廷(Peter Hastings)执导的喜剧片《乡村熊》(“The Country Bears”);匹克-法姆伊瓦(Rick Famuyiwa)执导的爱情片《黑甜心》(“Brown Sugar”);以及好莱坞新锐导演罗伯-马歇尔(Rob Marshall)执导、改编自百老汇久富盛名同名歌舞剧的音乐片《芝加哥》(“Chicago”)。此片由芮妮-齐薇格(Renee Zellweger)和凯瑟琳-泽塔-琼斯(Catherine Zeta Jones)主演,奎因在片中饰演主要配角女舍监莫顿(Morton),表演得不温不火、恰到好处,并为影片歌曲配唱。奎因因此获得了第56届英国学院奖、第60届金球奖和第75届奥斯卡奖最佳女配角提名。同年,她还在Hip-Hop音乐电视剧《绿野仙踪》(“The O.Z.”)中,饰演好心的女巫吉尔达(Gilda)。
2003年,随着《芝加哥》热度的升温,奎因也声名大噪。得以与美国最著名的喜剧明星史蒂夫-马丁(Steve Martin)联袂主演了亚当-山特曼(Adam Shankman)执导的喜剧片《爱到房倒屋塌》(“Bringing Down the Houze”),饰演“在逃犯”查伦-莫顿(Charlene Morton)。这部影片是她的第一部“女一号”影片(但肯定不是最后一部),她还担任了该片的制片。此片上映后,一举登上了北美电影票房榜的首位,好评不断。接下来,奎恩还将与史蒂夫-马丁合作另一部喜剧片《低价侦探》(“Cheaper by the Dozen”)。
奎因-拉蒂法是一家人才管理、唱片视频制作风韵公司(Flavor Unit)的总裁,公司目前由她的母亲管理经营,奎因对文化的鉴赏能力也主要来自于这位母亲的影响。奎因还是二届全州高中篮球赛冠军队的前卫,但如今已日渐发福。
by Steve Huey
Queen Latifah was certainly not the first female rapper, but she was the first one to become a bona fide star. She had more charisma than her predecessors, and her strong, intelligent, no-nonsense persona made her arguably the first MC who could properly be described as feminist. Her third album, Black Reign, was the first album by a female MC ever to go gold, a commercial breakthrough that paved the way for a talented crew of women rappers to make their own way onto the charts as the 90s progressed. Latifah herself soon branched out into other media, appearing in movies and sitcoms and even hosting her own talk show. Yet even with all the time she spent away from recording, she remained perhaps the most recognizable woman in hip-hop, with a level of respect that bordered on iconic status.
Queen Latifah was born Dana Owens in Newark, NJ, on March 18, 1970; her Muslim cousin gave her the nickname Latifah — an Arabic word meaning delicate or sensitive — when she was eight. As a youngster, she starred in her high schools production of The Wiz, and began rapping in high school with a group called Ladies Fresh, in which she also served as a human beatbox. In college, she adopted the name Queen Latifah and hooked up with Afrika Bambaataas Native Tongues collective, which sought to bring a more positive, Afrocentric consciousness to hip-hop. She recorded a demo that landed her a record deal with Tommy Boy, and released her first single, Wrath of My Madness, in 1988; it was followed by Dance for Me. In 1989, Latifahs full-length debut, All Hail the Queen, was released to strongly favorable reviews, and the classic single Ladies First broke her to the hip-hop audience. In addition to tough-minded hip-hop, the album also found Latifah dabbling in R&B, reggae, and house, and duetting with KRS-One and De La Soul. It sold very well, climbing into the Top Ten of the R&B album charts. Latifah quickly started a management company, Flavor Unit Entertainment, and was responsible for discovering Naughty by Nature. Her 1991 sophomore album, the lighter Nature of a Sista, wasnt quite as popular, and when her contract with Tommy Boy was up, the label elected not to re-sign her. Unfortunately, things got worse from there — she was the victim of a carjacking, and her brother Lance perished in a motorcycle accident.
Latifah emerged with a new sense of purpose and secured a deal with Motown, which issued Black Reign in 1993. Dedicated to her brother, it became her most popular album, eventually going gold; it also featured her biggest hit single, U.N.I.T.Y., which hit the R&B Top Ten and won a Grammy for Best Solo Rap Performance. By this point, Latifah had already begun her acting career, appearing in Jungle Fever, House Party 2, and Juice, as well as the TV series The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. In 1993, she was tabbed to co-star in the Fox comedy series Living Single, which ran until 1997; during that period, acting was her primary focus, and she also co-starred as a bank robber in the 1996 film Set It Off. That same year, Latifah was pulled over for speeding and was arrested when a loaded gun and marijuana were discovered in her vehicle; she pled guilty to the charges and was fined.
After Living Single was cancelled in 1997, Latifah returned to the recording studio and finally began work on her fourth album. Order in the Court was released in 1998 and found her playing up the R&B elements of her sound in a manner that led some critics to draw comparisons to Missy Elliott; she took more sung vocals, and also duetted with Faith Evans and the Fugees Pras. The album sold respectably well on the strength of the singles Bananas (Who You Gonna Call?) and Paper. The same year, she appeared in the films Sphere and Living Out Loud, singing several jazz standards in the latter. The Queen Latifah Show, a daytime talk show, debuted in 1999 and ran in syndication until 2001. In November 2002, Latifah ran afoul of the law again; she was pulled over by police and failed a sobriety test, and was placed on three years probation after pleading guilty to DUI charges. However, this mishap was somewhat overshadowed by her performance in the acclaimed movie musical Chicago, which garnered her Best Supporting Actress nominations from both the Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes.
In 2004, she released The Dana Owens Album, a diverse collection of covers and interpretations — from Dr. Buzzards Original Savannah Bands Hard Times to Billy Strayhorns Lush Life — that highlighted her singing skills rather than her rapping. Travlin Light followed with a similar format in 2007, ranging from the Pointer Sisters to Shirley Horn, with guest appearances from Joe Sample, George Duke, Erykah Badu, and Jill Scott. During the years between the releases, she acted in several movies, including Taxi, Beauty Shop, Last Holiday, and Hairspray.