Rarely does Queen Latifah do interviews, but she recently spoke on WEtv’s Untold Stories of Hip Hop about the death of her older brother Lancelot Owens Jr., who was killed in a motorcycle accident.

“Losing my brother, that was a devastating time for me,” she said. “We had just bought a house because I was missing my family from being on the road so much. And my brother, my mother and myself were gonna live in it. We bought this big ridiculous jacuzzi and he sat in the jacuzzi like, ‘Yo, this is actually gonna be fun.’

“I was supposed to be with him that day on the motorcycle but one of my friends had to move, so we were moving all day. After my brother passed away, that ruined my world. It rocked me to my core. I’ve never been the same since,” she continued.

Latifah goes on to say how his death led her into a deep depression, even contemplating quitting music. She then says how certain artists helped her during her time of need.

“God bless him, it was Heavy D … Heav had lost a brother,” she says. “To just know people are there when you need them. You have to grieve in your own way, and I put my emotions into the music, which is my safe place, my home.”