Queen Latifah Discusses Her Return To Daytime With 'The Queen Latifah Show'

STUDIO CITY (CBSLA.com) — Singer, actress, rapper and model Queen Latifah is returning to daytime talk with her new show, "The Queen Latifah Show."

The multi-talented performer sat down with CBS2's Pat Harvey to discuss her decision to launch the show and how she hopes to connect with her audience.

"I want them to feel like they had fun, that they were entertained, that they learned something maybe," she said. "That they were touched in some way."

Queen Latifah first appeared in her own talk show thirteen years ago.

"I think I've grown a lot since then, since the last talk show," she said. "I've gotten to enjoy acting the way I wanted to and really push that to the level I wanted to, and so I got a few things out of my system that I needed to in order to be able to then step into a role like this."

Born Dana Owens, Queen Latifah was 10-years-old when her parents divorced. But she credits her success to her upbringing.

"I was never just treated like a girl," she said, adding her parents never held her back from trying different things.

Queen Latifah said her father taught her and her brother how to defend themselves, but then emphasized the importance of refraining from violence.

"He taught us all these crazy kind of moves. And then he taught us not to use it," she said. Instead, she said she learned "you're there to watch out, to stick up for the little guy."

Asked if she realized her impact on different generations of women, from her years on the sitcom "Living Single" to songs like 1993's "U-N-I-T-Y", Queen Latifah said she had a message to deliver with her music.

"I'm not always a lady but I feel like I'm a woman," Queen Latifah said. "And I've grown into that. I'm not tough, but I'm strong. And I think those are kind of more the things I want to be known as."

While she has numerous film and music projects in the works, Queen Latifah says her main focus will be the show.

"The Queen Latifah Show" premiered Monday on CBS.