Trina: Strictly Business

Right now, one could argue that Trina is leading the pack of female rappers, if only by default. But, regardless of what side you might debate for, the fact is, the Miami native is on her grind and focused on making things pop even though she is now a seasoned connoisseur of getting all eyes […]

Right now, one could argue that Trina is leading

the pack of female rappers, if only by default. But, regardless of what side

you might debate for, the fact is, the Miami native is on her grind and focused

on making things pop even though she is now a seasoned connoisseur of getting

all eyes firmly focused on her. As a visual example, just peer into the pages

of some of your favorite rap magazines. Sonically, she is expanding her repertoire

as well with her latest, The Glamourest Life (that’s not a typo).

The lead single “I’m Leaving You,” has gotten those ears listening

like her 1998 Trick Daddy collaboration “Nann N***a.” See what tricks

Trina has in story this year.

AllHipHop.com: Talk about the album, what kind

of album is The Glamourest Life?

Trina: The album is really great, it is very

versatile. It’s different. It’s actually like the upgraded version

of [Da Baddest B*tch]. It’s just my form of expression. Everything I feel

like saying, however I wanted to say it. I didn’t go as far to worry about

what other people was going to think. Whether it was too explicit, whether it

was too raw. With [Diamond Princess], I got a little twisted with worrying about

what people kind of expect and want to see a certain side of you and see this

and see that. But really they don’t care they want you to just be who you

are. Either they going to like it, love it, or they not going to listen to it

at all. That’s basically my whole agenda and persona about it. I got a

classy side and I also got that extra crunchy raw sexual side as well. You can

have two different classes of people. Everybody don’t understand Chanel,

Roberto Cavalli and [people who] still can only afford Nike and Reebok. A lot

of my fans is like, “You know what, you really kind of left us so far behind

because you elevated so fast.” I wanted to make it equal for everybody.

You got the classy sophisticated girls but you still got the ghetto girls that’s

going to come to the shows and be real wild and stuff.

AllHipHop.Com: What about people that are coming

up after you. Do you feel those people will take away from what you’re

doing because you really are kind of leading these days?

Trina: I just think that people that’s coming

up after I don’t think that [they] could ever take away from you. I think

it’s what you make of it. You have to stay up on your game. The whole industry

is competitive. Everything is based on competition and then comparing you to

this person. Me myself personally I don’t mind being compared to somebody

if they’re a classic, if it’s somebody that has a good rep to follow.

Like Kim to me, I think she paved the way for a lot of female rappers to come

in and feel free to say whatever they want to say and not really hold back.

As far as people that’s coming up behind me, I send love or wish them the

best. I just think you have to have the originality about yourself and how you

do it.

AllHipHop.Com: Why do people seem to want to

keep beef going on between the females like you and that [Miami rapper] Jacki-O?

Trina: Actually, I’ve been in this business

for 6 years and I’ve never had beef with anybody and I think anybody new

comes into the game they always compare them to somebody else. I think there’s

going to be beef. [We] are from the same city. They want to compare [us] which

is cool. I don’t care and I don’t get involved in that. That’s

really not my repertoire and I’m too fly for that. I don’t have time

to do that.

AllHipHop.Com: What about you on the business

side, I know you wanna get more into acting?

Trina: I’m working on a sitcom right now,

it’s called With Friends like These, it’s basically a comedy. It’s

like a beauty salon and it’s just about the day in a life of a girl, like

what a girl goes through as far as just sitting up hanging around her girls

– the drama, the gossip, girl’s man sleeping with other girls. It’s

like a whole bunch of girly life but it’s really funny and it’s really

interesting and that’s something that we’re working on. I have some

movie offers that just came in. I didn’t really have time to sit down and

go over the scripts yet. I’ll grab on something that I really, really like.

I did this one DVD movie down in Miami, and it’s out now in Blockbuster.

I was the lead person in the movie but it was a small movie and I did it just

to gain the experience of it and to see what it would be like. It’s a lot

of things that I’m doing now that I’m looking forward to coming up

within this year and the future.

AllHipHop.Com: Now I know this is sensitive subject

with a lady, but we heard that you have a new diet and fitness regiment, a lot

of people want to know, “Why?”

Trina: For myself, it wasn’t more so what

people was saying oh she gained weight. I had to really say you know what, I

want to wear this when I perform. I want to look like this. I know I can walk

on the stage and have my whole stomach and body out because I did it before

and know if you get on stage and you feel kind of uncomfortable you don’t

want to do that. I definitely would not walk on the stage if you got a stomach

that’s hanging over some low jeans, that’s very not sexy so you definitely

need to cover that up. I just think about self-confidence and just taking time

to just getting into yourself and loving yourself and devoting yourself to eating

healthy. My body feels better to not eat beef. You might as well say it’s

a diet but it’s also really like a nutritional program. Basically, I just

eat baked chicken, baked fish, vegetables, and drink a lot of water and cranberry

juice. I eat special K for breakfast and that’s basically it. That’s

a daily routine for me everyday. I may have a cheat day if I want to eat something

different but I’m so used to doing the same things now for these past two

months to where my body has become addicted to it.

AllHipHop.Com: Now you won’t be losing any

of your assets will you?

Trina: Well my assets is all good I think they

just really are in a perfect more perfect form right now, and they are very

much toned out sexy to where people are going to be like, “Wow!”

AllHipHop.Com: I remember the last time we spoke,

about maybe a year or so ago you had a nice big ring on your finger from a “friend”

you had said. What’s your status these days? Are you attached?

Trina: Actually, I’m not going to say that.

I’m going to just say that I’m happy right now. You can’t really

speak out on relationships because people like to take it and do so many things

with it. If I said I got a man everybody gonna go crazy and they want to know

who, and I don’t really want to say that’s the case. I just think

I’m very happy, I’m very confident with myself, I’m very dedicated

to my work right now and I don’t think that I want to date. The person

that I want to be involved with is somebody I want to become a relationship

type of person. When I’m with that person, I want to stay with that person

and just make it happy. I have a friend [now], but it’s just that.

AllHipHop.Com: Does a guy have to have money

to be with you?

Trina: Well you know I just like a successful

person. I like a man that’s very intelligent with a good personality, [who’s]

very funny. Everybody likes somebody to have something because you do like to

get nice gifts. You want somebody that can take you out, treat you real nice,

spoil you, and make you feel very special. I don’t really look for that

because I have my own money so it doesn’t really matter. [But], I don’t

want no bum or nobody that’s just laying back and just capitalizing off

of me.

AllHipHop.Com: Is it true that 50 Cent’s

spot on “Magic Stick” was for you originally?

Trina: That’s what I was told. I don’t

really know what happened with that. I think it was something between labels,

with my label and his people. I [was] originally suppose to do that record,

that’s what I was told. And then when I did get a chance to meet him, we

talked about this big record. But [after], I don’t know what happened with

the label and it just never happened.

AllHipHop.Com: Speaking of 50 Cent with this

new single, “I’m Leavin’ You,” did he come to mind because

I know that he had kind of a call out name song back in the day with that song

“How To Rob,” and it caused a lot of controversy?

Trina: I think back in the day when he did that,

I think it’s all about humor and that’s what it is. The industry is

about humor; you have to have a personality. Don’t take everything so serious.

It’s not the end of the world; nobody is not putting a gun to your head

trying to kill you because they mentioned your name. The song for me kind of

brings back memories when Biggie did [“Dreams of F*cking an R&B B*tch].

I didn’t diss nobody. If you ask me, I think every male rapper that I [named],

I think they should be smiling real big, because its kind of like bigging them

up. I ain’t sleep with you so I don’t really know if you got a big

ole’ [penis] or what but I just gave you props because I felt like your

a pioneer in this game. That’s how I looked at it. Its really funny, With

the song back in the day with 50 I think a lot of people took it kind of personal

because it was like a lot of small like disses to some people. Sometimes people

will take that offensive. It’s totally just a record about how I feel and

just about who’s running the game right now.