Most music publications and Web sites have been quick to name Miami the center of new and hot hip-hop. With the increased attention on the sunny city, some of Miami’s best artists have been stepping up to release their latest installments in 2008. Rick Ross, Trick Daddy and Plies are planning releases, but one lady among the men is set to reclaim her throne as one of the best artists around.
Trina, a.k.a Katrina Taylor, is set to release her fourth album, “Still the Baddest,” on April Fool’s Day, but the beautiful lyricist is not joking about her position in the industry.
“The industry is male dominated, and as women we have to work and go hard 150 percent.” From the sounds of her first single “Single Again,” she definitely seems to have a fire under her belly. “With the new single, I was in the zone. I heard the beat and it was crazy, and I just wanted to make a lady’s anthem. I want ladies to pull their cars over and just start singing,” Trina said.
The single has certainly been getting heavy rotation on local and national stations and media outlets, and I wondered why she decided to be so personal while so few artists choose to do so nowadays.
“After three years of seeing and doing so much, I went from being in a high-profile relationship to being single,” she said. “The fans wanted to know what’s going on in your world and I wanted to be realistic, so that they can feel like I am just like any one of them. People respect when you open up to them, because you are human.”
For her new album, Trina didn’t stick to the same blueprint many artists, especially female rappers, tend to follow: She experimented with different sounds. “I just kept coming up with different themes, and it was definitely a refreshing vibe. I experimented with the hard, the soft, the love and the hurt, and even threw in some techno and reggae.”
Needless to say, Trina is well on her way to proving that she is, in fact, “Still the Baddest” female rapper in the hip-hop world. Trina fans should be looking forward to her latest project, as well as “a few more albums” to come.
Dan Buyanovsky may be contacted at d.buyanovsky@umiami.edu