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.