Queen Latifah’s Full-Circle Moment: How the Rock Hall Honoree Is Giving Back to New Jersey
Categoria: Musica
The rap pioneer reflects on her upcoming Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction and her mission to uplift her hometown in the new documentary, You Can Go Home Again.
Por Billboard | 13/11/2026
“First of all, let me teach you how to walk through Newark. Don’t say ‘New-work,’” quips Queen Latifah, playfully schooling me on the proper pronunciation of her hometown. “It’s just one syllable. Never get caught saying ‘New-work.’” The spirited polymath remains as sly and quick-witted as ever, nearly four decades after bursting onto the hip-hop scene in the late 1980s. More than three decades after delivering her seminal rallying cry, “U.N.I.T.Y.,” Latifah is channeling that same spirit of empowerment into giving back to the city that raised her. In her upcoming BET documentary, You Can Go Home Again — set to premiere Nov. 27 — the rap pioneer is in restoration mode, helping provide affordable housing for families in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey. “I grew up in a very busy place where I got to experience jazz, gospel and rock and roll. I got to see hip-hop being born. I experienced love for the first time, death for the first time, danger and excitement in every possible way,” she recalls. For Latifah, her commitment to uplifting her community comes at a crowning moment in her storied career. On Saturday (Nov. 14), she’ll be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a recipient of the Early Influence Award. She joins a star-studded class of musical luminaries, including Phil Collins, Celia Cruz, Sade, Oasis and Fela Kuti, alongside fellow hip-hop trailblazers Wu-Tang Clan and MC Lyte. “There are so many people I carry in my heart and on my back,” she says. “The KRS-Ones of the world, the Public Enemys of the world — I’m not me without them. They showed us how to do it. They took us little baby acts on tour and taught us how to do things. I really appreciate them.” Billboard spoke with Queen Latifah about the meaning of home, her upcoming documentary, and earning her place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. You’ve built an incredible legacy in entertainment, but now you’re helping families in Newark find a place to call home. When you think about everything you’ve accomplished, what makes this chapter of your life, particularly giving back, so meaningful to you? I’ve always loved real estate and interior design. It’s always been something I’m into. So, to be able to see something go from an idea to actual brick and mortar, with people living there, is incredible. To see it come to fruition and know there are people who will be living in these apartments, getting up and going to work, who may work for BET or may be the next executive who gives me a job one day, that’s the whole goal. I wanted to build things that I could live in. I wanted to build something that my mother would have been able to move into with me and my older brother while teaching, earning a teacher’s salary and trying to put two kids through school and college, without always having to worry about it. That’s why P&G has always been such a great collaborator. It’s been great be