NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - ‘Her Take’ with Cynthia McFadden: Queen Latifah

Episode Date: May 1, 2019

Queen Latifah talks to NBC’s Cynthia McFadden about finding success when she was just a teenager, the meaning behind her name, and her new mission to give back to aspiring female filmmakers.

Tell me about growing up, being a little girl. Oh, growing up being a little girl. Grew up right across the river in Newark, New Jersey as a little girl. I moved to East Orange when I was about 13 years old till I moved out of my mom's house at 19 years old. A lot of stuff between then, between the beginning and then. Life was fun. We had a big family.

So, you know, my father has nine brothers and sisters, nine of them. And my mother comes from seven brothers and sisters. Did you think, I'm a girl, I can only do certain kinds of things? Or was that never part of your? Well, I was a tomboy, so that never really entered my mind. I didn't really know I was a girl until I had to put on a shirt. I couldn't run around naked anymore. And somebody told me, you got to put on a shirt, Dana. I'm like, why? They're like, you're a girl.

And I'm looking at my brother and my cousins, like they're just running around with no shirts on. And I'm like, well, why do I have to put on a shirt? They don't have to put on. And then I kind of realized there's a difference between boys and girls. So and I didn't I don't think I liked it initially because it meant, you know, something gets taken away and you get treated a little differently. So that was like strike one. But but yeah, but other than that, I mean, it was kind of it was a lot of fun, a lot of love in our house, not a whole bunch of money, but a lot of love, a lot of family, a lot of music. You've said that you listen to all kinds of rock and roll. Yeah, I listen to everything. My dad primarily played strictly jazz. So you get in my father's car and it was always jazz on the radio. And you get with my mom or in her car and it was anything from Elton John to Bob Marley

to Phoebe Snow to the Timprees and the Shy Lights and you know we just had a big musical dynamic. As I grew older I just loved all kinds of music. Then hip hop came along and of course the bug, I fell in love with hip hop. I always loved music. My aunt directed a big mass choir down in Virginia. I would always go to choir rehearsal with her. And I just loved the way she stacked songs and taught harmonies. And I would be learning these songs and singing along.

And I just had a deeper appreciation for music. The songs i would gravitate to wouldn't be necessarily the singles they would be the more introspective ones or or things that had weird chords or you know songs like that i just wasn't i didn't just go for the typical single you know so i just i just my ears just changed a little differently it doesn't sound like necessary prep necessarily preparation for being a rap artist. Well, I think, you know, maybe it was in a way. I think it definitely influenced the type of music that I made when I became a rapper, because when I did become a rapper, my first album is full of

musical records. And that was different from a lot of the artists that were out. A lot of the artists, rap artists that came out when I came out, it was beats and rock. For me, I needed a little more musicality in my records, so they would have singing hooks. I would sing a lot of the hooks, like Ladies First. Ooh, Ladies First, Ladies First. It would be singing, or you and I, T.U.I. These are all, like, singing hooks,

and I just liked a lot of different kinds of music I mean you were a success before you were really even grown up. I mean you were what? 18 19 I was 17 when my first single came out 17. Yes. Yes So what does that do to a 17 year old girl from New Jersey to suddenly have a hit? It puts money in her pocket. 17-year-old making thousands of dollars. Made me drop out of my college, BMCC, which is down the street. I was 17.

I was going to college, my freshman year of college at Borough Manhattan Community College here in Manhattan. And I was making music. My record started playing on the radio my friends are like that's you that's you on the radio get out of here they can't even believe it you know the ones who don't know me from my from my music you know been hanging out in the basement with us making records and it's all kind of happening at once and what what it did was give me

a choice I you know the record started to gain some traction and I had to make a decision because I started getting a lot of offers to appear and do shows. And so I had to have a talk with my mom. Yes. So the talk was. So, yeah, let's hear that talk. Let's hear that talk. Mom. You know, in my household, you either had you had to go to college or you had to work.

You couldn't. There was no hanging out, you know. And we were pushed and propelled towards college. But here was this career that was really starting to happen. And I said, Mom, you know, this is really, really, you know, getting bigger and bigger. And I think I want to take a year off. But here's my deal. I'll take a year off and I will put 150% into this

music career. And if it doesn't work after a year, I promise you I'll go back to college. And that seems like a deal that a mother might be able to accept. And she accepted it because I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't accepted. I would have had to do both. Really? I would have had at least approved. Would you have continued with college at the same time? Absolutely. I would have, you know, out of respect. I would have definitely tried to see if I could do them both at the same time. And I would have been working a lot harder. I probably would have had to get a place closer to the city because I was taking a train from East Orange every morning, you know, a couple of buses and a train, and walking from the train station to school.

So I went from eating 50-cent hot dogs to being able to afford Mr. Chow. So it was a big change overnight in that sense. Did you know then you were going to be able to go all the way? Well, I knew I was going to make it doing something. A lot of it was based on us wanting to change the economic status of our families. So it wasn't just, I want to be a rapper and be famous and be on TV. It was really, I want to become a rapper because I'm talented at it, but I want to buy my mother a house. I want to create

a business. I want to expand our horizons. So for me, that meant exploiting all the things I was gifted at, not just rapping. So rapping opened the door to other opportunities like acting. Spike Lee was looking for a female rapper to put in Jungle Fever. Monie Love got pregnant and she couldn't do it. So I was next in line and I wound up doing it. That was the beginning of my film career. Will Smith, who we toured with for months and months at a time for a couple of years, he was a good friend of ours. And then when he got a television show, it made us feel like, well, if Will can do it, we can do it.

So let's figure out how to do it. And he even helped us to do it. So I wound up with a TV show, you know, Living Single. So it was really just about taking those opportunities and running with them. And once you got in there, okay, let's keep the door open and bring a few other people through. You know, I didn't want to be managed by someone else because I really didn't want anyone else deciding things for me. Or to be in the dark about every contract or just somebody to put a pen in my hand and say sign here. And then I've signed away everything, you know.

So we opened up our own management company. When you say we. Me and my partner, Shaquem. Who has been with you from the basement, from the basement. Since high school, yeah. Since 10th grade. You know, I've been around in this business long enough to see a lot of people come and go and see a lot of people's teams turn over. They turn over a lot.

And I've been very fortunate to be able to work with the same people that I've been with since, you know, since I was in my teenage years or early 20s. The decision to drop out of college, it worked out. But do you have any regrets about not getting a degree? I did. And, you know, I've always tried to continue to educate myself along the way. I mean, I really enjoy learning. I always have. And to educate myself along the way. I mean, I really enjoy learning. I always have. And I enjoy classroom environments.

I love being around other students and being able to engage in conversation about the world or politics or current events or history. One of my best friends tutored me in algebra when I was a freshman. She was really good at it and I really was not. And so I needed some help and she helped me to get a C+. That was enough to pass.

You know what I mean? Geometry I loved. Algebra was a challenge. But even that, I still like a challenge. I don't shy away when I'm challenged. I kind of just figure out how I can rise to the occasion or get help. So, okay, we've got to talk about the name. You did not grow up as Queen Latifah.

Who said that? I don't know. Who told you that? That's the rumor? It's true. Dana Owens. Yes. How did you, the Latifah part, as I understand it, came before the queen.

It did. The Latifah came when I was eight years old. My cousin Sharonda came over, and she had this book of Arabic names and they all had meanings. So it was like 99 names in this book. And her sister's name is Latifa as well. So I looked up the meaning of it and it said delicate, sensitive, kind, nice. And I was like, that's kind of how I feel about me. You know, I'm big for my age. I'm a bit of a tomboy, but I'm actually kind of sensitive and delicate. I get my feelings hurt, you know, and I'm kind hearted. I care about people and animals and, you know, people who need help. You know, I have a heart for those who are doing as

well, you know, or just need a leg up. I think I'm a pretty nice person I felt like it applied to me so I kept that name and I kept that name for till I got to high school where you can become who you want to be and I started introducing myself as that to people so a lot of people were calling me La, Atifa and those who other people who knew me in class would call me Dana. And so that became my nickname and people would call me that. And then when it came time, you know, we started rapping and I was offered the contract. And the lawyer asked me what I wanted to be professionally known as.

And I kicked it around for a couple of days and I decided Queen before Latifah. I didn't want to be, you know, MC Lyte had a lock on MC, so I didn't want to be MC Latifah. So I just chose queen. My mother kind of raised me to be a queen. I felt like I was a queen, should be treated as such. Asked my boys what they thought. They was like, oh, that's kind of cool. So that's what I. It takes some self-confidence.

It takes a lot of self-confidence to call yourself a queen. I agree. My mother kind of laughed, even though it was her. But she was like, queen? Like, see, I ain't calling you queen. I was like, you the real queen, so you don't have to call me that. But it stuck. I mean, it really stuck.

It did. I didn't know it was going to stick like that. In your head, are you queen? I am. You know, I mean, I love being in New York because I'll be walking down the street and the truck drivers. Yeah. What do you say to Queenie? Hey, yo, Queen. You know, I think I'm pretty much queen.

You know, I thought people would just call me Latifah a lot. But Queen Latifah. Hey, Queen Latifah. I was like the whole thing. All right, cool. You know, it's interesting because the Queen part is really ballsy, really bold, really out there, really you listen to me, right? You listen to me. That's right. And the Latifah part is sort of the softer, hey, I care about you. I care about the world. So you've got both things going on. Absolutely. That's the story of my life.

It's literally the story of my life, living in these different worlds. And I don't think they have to be mutually exclusive. I think that's the wonderful thing about a woman. We can be strong. We can be bold. We can be brave. We can be ballsy, if you will. Maybe not quite. But then we can be soft and kind and sensitive and tender and nurturing. And to me, that's a beautiful thing.

You know, that is a wonderful thing. I went back and watched the video for Ladies First. And you're all there. Yes. We changed the world. Well, you say it jokingly, but i don't think you mean it jokingly i kind of mean it jokingly because who what 18 year old does something like that you know what i mean when i look back on it i'm like what are we doing ladies first is um first of all it's about ladies first so the idea was to get as many female rappers

as were available at the time to come on, jump in this video. Let's all get some screen time. Let's all pay homage to each other. And this really is a celebration of female rappers and of womanhood. In many ways, you are very open about your life. But there are zones that you just don't go to. They're just zones that I keep for myself. I mean, I think I'm entitled to my own life,

you know, my own private life. There's a public persona. There's a public life we get to share together. I share as much as I can. And then certain things I just don't want to share. I want to keep them for me and mine. I want to keep them for those who truly care about me and love me, and those who I truly love and care about. So many celebrities these days, though, there seems to be no separation between public-private. I just wonder whether your way doesn't lead to a longer and happier public life as well as private life. I mean, I wonder. I mean, as you look back, you've now had years of this. I love something you say. You say, well, you know, I just want people to go right ahead and speculate because they're

going to do it anyway. They are. You know, go ahead and write whatever you want to write or say what you want to say. I guess if I feel the need to address it, I will. But, you know, go ahead and write whatever you want to write or say what you want to say. I guess if I feel the need to address it, I will. But you know, I live my life and people write about my life. You know what I mean? I'm actually living it and I live my life pretty fully. You know, I don't change anything about me to cater to the public or to... I'm not trying to hide anything necessarily. I'm just trying to keep something sacred.

And there's a difference between hiding something and keeping something for me. Like everybody, you've had tough times. But I think it does help people who look at you and admire you. And you've been public about a lot of this. Your brother died, which was a terrible tragedy. You were a carjacked, terrible, horrible thing. But you've survived. I'm here.

Still standing. I'm still standing. Is there some... You know, there's an old line of poetry about the greatest tragedy is to have the experience and miss the meaning. Are you far enough away from those very hard things to have found meaning? Not all of them, no. Some of them, yeah, I have found lots of meaning.

I've learned a lot. But I think, if anything, they've kind of built my faith in God. Tough times kind of make me lean on God more and lean on my family and my friends more. And try to get away and get space and get, you know, kind of breathe. You know, I asked Cher when she was about your age, is there anything good about getting older? And her answer was, no, there's nothing good about getting older. It's all just awful. That's funny.

So I ask you, you know, you've been at this for a while now. You're still a young woman, but you're not as young as you once were. What do you think? Yeah, my knees sure aren't. Knee one and two, they can use a little lubrication there every once in a while. Anything good about getting older? I think so. I think getting older, you don't stress as much about things that you probably worried about before.

I think you start to really become more and more comfortable with you, whoever that person is. I don't think, it depends on, to me, how you look at life. Like for me, there's so much more to do and there's always hopefully going to be more to do. When my mind thinks something, then there's something more to do. Boom. Well, you're busy doing something more. Yes. Yes. There's always more. So, you know, and it doesn't have to be a career thing. It could be a hobby. It could be something you enjoy. It could be a place you haven't been. Well, I don't know when you have any time for that. You are building apartment buildings in Newark? Well, luckily, I don't have to do it myself. It's not a DIY project. So I don't think

anybody's going to buy my do-it-yourself, you know, apartments. But yes, there's some property I've been acquiring for years now on a block in Newark because I love Newark and I want to see it be great. Is this going to be low-income housing? No, it's not all low-income housing. It's mostly market rate housing. And then there's a whole, there's a great percentage of it that is affordable housing so and it's gonna be beautiful so I'm just looking forward to it being built this bill to be done in about two years all together how did you come to the idea that you you wanted to do this well I love architecture I love design and I always have I mean in my house you find more interior design and I always have. I mean in my house you find more interior design and

architecture magazines than anything else. And so I wanted to just invest in some real estate and I saw this block in Newark. You have another project you're very excited about which is giving really taking a lot of the sun that shined on you and helping shine it on others, young women, young women filmmakers. That's a beautiful way of putting that. Shouldn't we do that in life generally? Take some of the sun that shined on us and shine it on others? That way everybody get a little sunshine.

You know, bring your Florida to me. Okay? In my winter. The Queen Collective. The Queen Collective. So we've been hearing a lot lately about women in Hollywood, women in advertising, the business of women and the equality of where women are with men in these various businesses and genres. And there's a big disparity. There's a huge disparity with women directors in film compared with men. So the Queen Collective was conceived as a way to try to help women directors have opportunities to direct films

and to have their films distributed and seen. So I partnered up with Procter & Gamble to support it as well as Tribeca Film Festival. They're supporting it as well. As a matter of fact, it's going to air. The two selectees that we have that shot the short films, they're going to air at the Tribeca Film Festival and they will premiere on Hulu, their films, on April 27th. So you'll be able to see Ballet After Dark and If There's Light. Two emotionally gripping stories told documentary style short films that'll just kind of wrap you and take you on a quick journey but stories that we wouldn't have seen if I probably wouldn't have given these women an opportunity and I wish I could give a whole bunch more women the same opportunity so hopefully we'll

be able to do that in year two. How'd you get the idea? Why did you decide to do this? There's just so much you're seeing I mean with the age of of Me Too and you're learning so much more, it's a perfect time to continue to shift the culture, to change people's attitudes. It must feel really good. It feels great. It feels great every time throughout my career when I've been able to make this kind of a difference.

It is important to do well and do good. And you can. And I've seen it since early in my career that you can make money and sleep at night. You know what I mean? You can make money and still do good things. You don't have to step on everybody's neck or step on everybody's head to get up to where you want to be. How worried are you about America right now as we sit here? Well, I'm worried about, I'm only worried about America

if we choose to be apathetic. There's always been a problem. I'm only worried about American apathy, I think. Other than that, I'm always very hopeful that things can change. But if we are apathetic, if we really get lost in who we actually are as human beings, if we don't

confront our terrible past, you know, this country got very rich because of slavery. Because you kidnapped Africans, you brought them here, and you made a lot of money for hundreds of years off of people who got nothing. Slavery, you know?, rape, murder, slavery is not nice. We are the descendants of that, you know, we're all the descendants of that past. So what we need to do is just deal with the real. There's no reason that another country should be able to come in and separate us using racism. How pathetic is that of us that at this point in time, all these years later, somebody could use our own history against us in that way.

It's only because we haven't dealt with it and we still carrying too much of it. Okay, let's just talk about it, deal with it, recognize it for what it is. Somebody made a lot of it. Okay. Let's just talk about it. Deal with it. Recognize it for what it is. Somebody made a lot of money. I don't know whose family did in my mind. Not most of the people I know, black or white. You know what I mean? Everybody's still mostly trying to make it. So we need to deal with our racism and our classism and our gender equality issues. We need to deal with all of that stuff. And then we need to move forward because while we're still sitting here

fighting over the past and old things, you know, other places are blowing past us. We act like our kids are the best educated on the planet. They're not. We're not even supplying our children with what they need to learn and grow. We are way behind in things like math and science. We're not where we should be. You know, we got the nerve to actually fight over it. Like we're really doing something

amazing. We're capable of it. You know, we are surely capable of it because I've seen it in people. I've seen how capable. Look at me. I'm a testament, you know, of what you can do when you invest in a child and what you do when you support them. But I'm not special in that way. You know, we're all over the place and we just kind of need to really use our hearts more and not, you know, not be so separated. We're really more the same than we are different. You have also talked about and represented that everybody is in the size 8. I'm certainly not. Well, most people don't look like the people in the magazines.

I mean, most people don't look like what they look like on their own social media most of the time. You know, we got filters and we add vibrant colors. And everybody's trying to present this image of who they maybe want to be on a normal basis. But I mean, I'm not always in full hair and makeup, although that's how I want to look on my Instagram. It's just not not the truth. I think we need to see people that look real. I think I was one of the most successful and longest running cover girls because I looked like people out there who wore the makeup. You know, you're selling things to everyday women, but you're not creating things for everyday women, then that doesn't make sense. You know, so clothing

lines and magazines and makeup, it needs to reflect the consumer. It needs to, to me, respect the consumer at least and just know that, you know that you know we you know we need clothes that are fly and in our size. If you could give one piece of advice to young women who are listening to you right now what would it be? Go for it. Whatever it is. As long as it ain't illegal.