Latifah was born and raised in the public housing projects of Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of Rita, a schoolteacher who worked at Irvington High School, and Lancelot Owens, a policeman. Her parents divorced when Latifah was ten. Latifah performed the number "Home" from the musical The Wiz in a high school play. Her stage name, Latifah (ΩΨ·ΩΩΨ©), meaning "kind" in Arabic, was given to her when she was eight by her cousin. Latifah was raised in the Baptist church, and, while in high school, was a power forward on her basketball team.
She started her career beatboxing for the rap group Ladies Fresh. Latifah was one of the members of the original version of the Flavor Unit MC's, which, at that time, was a crew of MC's 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 5 Freddy, who was the host of Yo! MTV Raps. The recording captured the attention of Tommy Boy Music employee Dante Ross, who immediately signed Latifah, and in 1988 issued her first single, Wrath of My Madness. The track met with a positive response and afforded her the opportunity to launch a European tour, and to perform at the Harlem's famed Apollo Theater. The next year Latifah released her first album, All Hail the Queen, which went on to sell more than 1 million copies.
As she began to earn money, Latifah displayed an interest in investment, putting money into a delicatessen and a video store on the ground floor of the apartment in which she was living. She came to realize that she had a knack for business, and realized that there was an opening for her in record production. In 1991, Latifah organized and became chief executive officer of the Flavor Unit Records and Management Company, headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. In the same year she was released her sophomore album, called Nature of a Sista'. It was the final album on Tommy Boy Records. By late 1993, the company had signed 17 rap groups, including the very successful Naughty by Nature. In 1993, Latifah recorded a jazz- and reggae-influenced album titled Black Reign. While the album sold more than 500,000 copies, the single U.N.I.T.Y. earned Latifah her first Grammy Award in 1995. In 1998, Co Produced by Ro Smith now CEO of Def Ro Inc. she released her fourth hip hop album Order in the Court. After Order in the Court, Latifah shifted primarily to sung lyrics in soul music and jazz standards, which she had used sparingly in her previous hip hop-oriented records.
In 2004, she released the soul/jazz standards The Dana Owens Album. On July 11, 2007, Latifah sang at the famed Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles as the headlining act in a live jazz concert. Before a crowd of more than 12,400, she was backed by a 10-piece live orchestra and three backup vocalists, The Queen Latifah Orchestra. Latifah performed new arrangements of standards including California Dreaming, first made popular by '60s icons The Mamas & the Papas. In 2007, Latifah released an album entitled Trav'lin' Light. Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Joe Sample, George Duke, Christian McBride, and Stevie Wonder made guest appearances. It was nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album" category. On September 12, 2008, Rolling Stone reported that Queen Latifah is working on a new album that is due in sometime in 2009; this album will be, at least partially, produced by Dr. Dre. She will also work with Missy Elliott.
Acting Success
In the 1990s, Latifah branched out into acting. She made her big screen debut in Spike Lee's interracial romance drama Jungle Fever (1991). The following year, Latifah appeared in the crime thriller Juice with Omar Epps and Tupac Shakur. She soon landed a leading role on the small screen, appearing in the sitcom Living Single from 1993 to '98. The comedy, which also starred Kim Coles, Kim Fields and Erika Alexander, proved to be a ground-breaking show. It remains one of the few sitcoms to focus on a group of African-American women.
A talented performer, Latifah continued to tackle both comedic and dramatic parts. She co-starred in 1996's Set It Off with Jada Pinkett Smith, Kimberly Elise and Vivica A. Fox, playing as a lesbian bank robber. Two years later, Latifah teamed up with Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito for the comedy Living Out Loud (1998). She also appeared with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie[[i]i] in The Bone Collector (1999).
Perhaps Latifah's most acclaimed film role to date came in the 2002 hit musical Chicago, starring Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger. Her portrayal of prison matron Mama Morton gave her a chance to show off both her singing talents and acting skills. For her work in the film, Latifah earned an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress. She lost to Chicago co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Latifah went on to receive strong reviews for 2003's romantic comedy Bringing Down the House co-starring with Steve Martin. The following year, she experienced some disappointment with Taxi, which co-starred Jimmy Fallon. The comedy proved to be a critical and commercial dud. She fared better with Beauty Shop (2005) and her voice-over work in the hit animated film Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006).
In 2007, Queen Latifah again delighted movie-goers with her musical talents. She appeared as Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray with John Travolta. Her crime caper Mad Money (2008) with Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes received much colder reception. Returning to drama, Latifah gave a strong performance in The Secret Life of Bees (2008).
On the small screen, Latifah has made a number of guest television appearances over the years, including on the shows 30 Rock and Single Ladies. She also co-starred in the 2012 TV remake of Steel Magnolias with Alfre Woodard, Phylicia Rashad and Jill Scott. Latifah branched out in a new direction the following year. She will enter the daytime television market with a new talk show. The Queen Latifah Show will debut in the fall of 2013. The program promises to be a mix of interviews and comedic and musical performances, according to BET.com.
In addition to acting, Queen Latifah serves as a spokesperson for CoverGirl cosmetics. She even has her own line with the company: The Queen Collection.
I Can't Understand
Queen Latifah Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(I'm going crazy, you're going crazy) in the background
Verse 1
For give me father for I have sinned
I've just destroyed another phony ass rapper again
She wasn't causing it
She must have been stupid as a fiend
Perplexed and I'm vexed cause everywhere i go
People be flexin and expecting me to wanna flow
I don't play that the only way that i will be playin
As if I pay back you wanna play back so what you sayin
You don't wanna be a sister in the name of rap
Yet you wanna talk shit and your style is whack
I would have squashed it before and made the whole issue dead
Now I'm fed so it's off with you head
Now the moral of the verse is that your career is thru
And don't be fuckin with nobody who aint fuckin with you
If I were in your shoes, i let there be a start walkin'
Next time there will be no talkin'
I cant understand...
(I'm going crazy, You're going crazy) in the background
Verse 2
A brother pushed up on me at the movies one weekend
He was on a quest and I wasn'tΒ ?even seekin
I know though I'm black and he was a Puerto Rican
It made no good to me cause so we continued to speakin
We hit it right off and everything was on a roll
Before i knew it I fell in love with his soul
"Aye poppy aye" was the cry as he made love to me
I was freaked by the way he just to do me
And then one day when I was washing our clothes
A number fell out of his pocket and her name was Rose
A girl's number, hmm, that struck me kinda funny
I lost my grip, I had to call up the honey
There was a chick on the side, oh no it couldn't be
There was a chick on the side, he's down with the OPP
I gave you the whole shebang just to find out
There's another woman hitting my thang
I can't understand...
(I'm going crazy, you're going crazy) in the background
Why the negative vibes and why people take bribes I don't understand it yo,
I don't know
Why the bad people and why the good people die somebody gotta tell me why,
I don't know
Why the people smoke crack and why the whites fight blacks what's the scenario,
I don't know
Why the hearts get broke and why the chumps get choke they know I ain't no joke,
I don't know
Verse 3
Now with the drums, to the bass, to the piano and to the horn
It's a crazy ass life and that's my word is born
I'm trying to be as logical as I possibly can
Before the life of me
You know I just can't understand
What's going on sometimes
Some situations like this come out in my rhymes
But Queen Latifah ain't gone just yet
Cause when it's come to mastering confusion I'm a vet
I can't understand...
( I'm going crazy, you're going crazy) in the background
In the first verse of Queen Latifah's "I Can't Understand," she apologizes to God for her sin of destroying another rapper who was foolish enough to challenge her. The rapper wasn't worth it, and she shouldn't have bothered, but Queen Latifah is frustrated because people are always expecting her to rap. She explains that she refused to engage in a play-back competition as she has no time for that. She advises people to stay in their lane and not try to mess with her, as she will end their careers. The moral of the verse is to stay out of the rapper's way if you don't want to be squashed, and don't mess with someone who isn't bothering you.
The second verse is unrelated to the first. It is a narrative of Queen Latifah falling in love with a Puerto Rican man, only to discover that he has another woman in his life. Queen Latifah is hurt by the infidelity, and she doesn't understand why some people do the things they do, such as cheat on someone they claim to love.
In the bridge, Queen Latifah expresses confusion and frustration with negative people, bribery, smoking crack, racial tensions, and heartbreaks. She adds that she doesn't know why things happen the way they do, or why good people die.
Queen Latifah concludes the song by saying that she is trying to be logical, but some situations defy logic. As someone who has encountered numerous confusing situations, she considers herself a master in managing confusion.
Line by Line Meaning
For give me father for I have sinned
I am asking for forgiveness for what I have done
I've just destroyed another phony ass rapper again
I have just ended a fake rapper's career
He should have told her child you don't step to the queen
He should have warned her about challenging me
People be flexin and expecting me to wanna flow
People assume that I want to rap just because of my reputation
As if I pay back you wanna play back so what you sayin
I will only play along if you have done me a favor before
Now the moral of the verse is that your career is thru
The message of this verse is that your career is over
And don't be fuckin with nobody who aint fuckin with you
Do not mess with people who do not mess with you
A number fell out of his pocket and her name was Rose
I found a woman's phone number in his pocket
There was a chick on the side, he's down with the OPP
He cheated on me with another woman
Why the negative vibes and why people take bribes I don't understand it yo
Why do people give off bad energy and why do they accept bribes? I do not understand it
Why the bad people and why the good people die somebody gotta tell me why
Why do both good and bad people die? Someone needs to explain it to me
Why the people smoke crack and why the whites fight blacks what's the scenario
Why do people use drugs and why do white people fight with black people? What is going on?
Why the hearts get broke and why the chumps get choke they know I ain't no joke
Why do people get their hearts broken and why do some people struggle? They should know I am not joking
Now with the drums, to the bass, to the piano and to the horn
I am incorporating different instruments into my music
But Queen Latifah ain't gone just yet
I am not finished yet as an artist
Cause when it's come to mastering confusion I'm a vet
I am very experienced in dealing with uncertainty and confusion
I can't understand...
I am feeling very overwhelmed and confused
Contributed by Bentley V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.