Parade.com
Parade.com

From rap to fashion to movies, Queen Latifah isn’t just a jack of all trades, she’s the Queen. The 41-year-old entertainer talked to Parade.com about her new fashion line, today’s female rap scene, the best kisser in Hollywood, and more. Here are some highlights:

On paving the way for female rappers like Nicki Minaj…
“I know that I’ve had something to do with it. People paved the way for me and you pave the way for others. You have to expand the game as much as you can for the ladies. I’ve always kind of been a champion for the ladies in that sense. Even if we don’t like each other necessarily, I appreciate that each of us has our own voice and we can express ourselves the way we see fit. Not that Nicki is like me per se, but I think many female rappers have been inspired by me as I have been inspired by others.”

She’s not too impressed with today’s rap scene…
“Hopefully it will get back to where it was it was and more people will come out. We can’t just have one rapper (female). And to tell to you just how terrible the industry has gotten in that sense by not supporting and making sure that our voices are heard. It just became so male dominated. How much money can you throw at a strip club? How much weed can you smoke? How many girls can you have sex with? Can we have a new record? Can you make this interesting? The reason I think it started becoming like that is because there were no women’s voices out there giving you a different take on life. To me, hip hop will never be right until female rappers have a stronger voice in it.”

From LL Cool J to Djimon Hounsou to Common, who is the best onscreen kisser?
“Me! There are a couple of that are neck and neck though!”

Check out the full interview on Parade.com:
http://www.parade.com/celebrity/celebrity-parade/2011/10/queen-latifah.html