Queen Latifah was a working actress before her audience realized it. Prior to her movie debut—in Spike Lee’s 1991 film Jungle Fever—she was among the best-known female rappers in America, starring in her own music videos. “As a rapper, you sort of act in music videos and in the persona you adopt onstage,” she has said. “You kinda have to put yourself out there and be courageous even to be a rapper. So, to step into acting was not that difficult a transition to make.” A new series at the Metrograph spotlights the acting chops of hip-hop singers turned film stars, a roster that includes Latifah, Ice Cube, and Tupac Shakur. There are six films in the series, among them Belly (featuring DMX), Friday (starring and co-written by Cube), and Poetic Justice (co-starring Janet Jackson and Shakur). —Jensen Davis