Queen Latifah reigns on and off TV - rap singer and television actress

Ebony, Dec, 1993 by Aldore Collier

Latifah will admit that she is easily bored and needs a man who is bright and constantly up for challenges. "They have to keep me challenged," says the woman who enjoys kickboxing, playing basketball and, most of all, zooming around on her motorcycle. "They have to be strong and secure. Don't let me run you because I will, and I'll get bored and dump you. And the man has to have at least a little pocket change. He doesn't have to be rich but I don't want any bums. I'm not supporting any man."

Although enjoying her present career status, Latifah's dreams and ambitions extend far beyond Hollywood and the world of rap music. Her primary objective, she says, is to make enough money to begin building affordable housing in northern New Jersey. "Everybody on welfare is not trying to rip off the system," she insists. "Some are using it [welfare] as a stepping-stone. In my heart, I want to provide the next step for them. And that is affordable housing. I want people to live in nice houses."

Dusk has fallen in Hollywood Hills, and the homes in the valleys and canyons below her have been reduced to just a series of well-spaced lights in the darkness. And when the conversation moves to her phenomenal success, she smiles and shrugs, saying: "We can try and control our destinies but it's written out. I take everything I get a blessing. I say my prayers every night, and if it's meant to be, it will be."