There have always been women at the forefront of hip-hop’s 50-year reign over pop culture, and perhaps none is more iconic than Queen Latifah. The “U-N-I-T-Y” rapper is widely acknowledged as one of the genre’s greatest of all time, and last night at the Kennedy Center Honors, she received loving tributes from some of her most iconic peers and proteges.
First up, Missy Elliott repaid Latifah for her touching Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction speech introduction, recalling hearing “Ladies First” for the first time as a teenager and having her life changed by Latifah’s “Queen” moniker and positive messaging.
Then, there were performances. Queen Latifah’s fellow hip-hop pioneers MC Lyte and Monie Love performed her signature hit “Ladies First,” with Lyte taking over Latifah’s verses and Monie performing her own.
Rapsody then performed one of Latifah’s best, but most underrated songs, “Just Another Day…” (Would have been cool if she performed “Hatshepsut,” the song on which they collaborated from Rap’s 2019 album Eve, but extra light being shed on the smooth Black Reign cut is never a bad thing.)
The Kennedy Center Honors simply seal a legendary legacy which includes such accolades as Grammys, Emmys, and Oscar nominations, as well as roles ranging acting to heading one of hip-hop’s first women-led labels. She is, indeed, an icon and a queen.