Latifah started her career beatboxing for the rap group Ladies Fresh. Latifah was one of the members of the original version of the Flavor Unit, which, at that time, was a crew of emcees grouped around producer DJ Mark the 45 King. In 1988, DJ Mark the 45 King heard a demo version of Latifah's single "Princess of the Posse" and gave the demo to Fab Five Freddy, who was the host of Yo! MTV Raps. Read more...

From 1993 to 1998, Latifah had a starring role on Living Single, a FOX sitcom; she also wrote and performed its theme music. She began her film career in supporting roles in the 1991 films House Party 2, Juice, and Jungle Fever. She had her own talk show, The Queen Latifah Show, from 1999 to 2001.

Latifah first attracted notice for her role portraying a lesbian in the 1996 box-office hit, Read more...

Latifah is a celebrity spokesperson for Cover Girl cosmetics, Curvation ladies underwear, Pizza Hut and Jenny Craig. She has developed her own line of cosmetics for women of color called the Covergirl Queen Collection and has starred in several commercials for the line, as well as a commercial with fellow spokeswoman and singer Faith Hill.