Queen Latifah is a beaming beauty on the cover of Essence magazine's January issue. Wearing a siren red dress and jumping for joy, the New Jersey native definitely has a lot to be excited about.
The biggest venture for the rapper-turned-multi media star will be her return to television. No, not as Khadijah James on "Living Single" (although that would be pretty awesome) but serving as a host to her own daytime talk show set to launch in 2013. This will be Latifah's second crack at hosting and producing a talker. Her first attempt "The Queen Latifah Show" debuted in 1999 but was shortly cancelled in 2001.
People are buzzing that the void left by the former queen of daytime, Oprah, might finally be filled by this queen. But Latifah isn't so sure.
"People say I'm going to be the next Oprah. No. Oprah is still Oprah. I'll be the next me. I feel like there's always a lane for me as long as I'm true to myself," Latifah told Essence.
And as she juggles the tasks of hosting and producing a talk show, serving as spokeswoman for the CoverGirl, starring in feature films and recording the occasional album (phew!), Latifah is also super involved in designing her signature clothing collection with HSN that launched in August. She spoke to Essence about the pride she takes in creating clothes for curvy women like herself.
"A lot of manufacturers don't respect the curvaceous woman. They don't respect our dollar or our shape. Working with HSN has been such a great partnership. I'm happy to be able to make women's clothing I really like...everything in the line is something I would wear myself," says Latifah.
