Yahoo Finance ‘Baddest Chick’ Trina creating indelible blueprint for the next wave of women rappers
Katrina “Trina” Taylor admired the women and daughters who strolled out of her mother’s Liberty City hair salon with a fresh set of glossed nails and buoyant, black curls. In her late teens, she recalls her mother slicking back her natural hair into a pin up or stacking layers upon layers in a “high stack” style, she said.
Beyond the glamour that engulfed her childhood, Trina — a Miami female rap pioneer known affectionately as the “Diamond Princess” — credits her strength and success to the army of strong, Black women who raised her. She watched as her mother and her aunt, who owned a bank, earn their money while flaunting lavish lifestyles: new hairstyles and superfluous shopping tabs. It was the lifestyle that she ultimately envisioned for herself.
“They were just women that were of power and position and they knew what they wanted,” Trina added. “They were determined to always get it and have it. It was never no for an answer.”
Trina, who popularized the term “Baddest Chick,” became a part of 305 royalty in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She continues to reinvent herself — through premieres on ALLBLK, a streaming service dedicated to Black entertainment, to the creation of her own accessories line, Laverne. From the August release of her song “Receipts” to working with artists within her label, Rockstarr Music Group, Trina is committed to being an inspiration for aspiring female rappers.
Ted Lucas, the founder of Slip N’ Slide Records who signed Trina in the late 90s, said he recognized she was a star before she even realized it herself. Trina, who initially wanted to obtain a license in real estate, ignored Lucas’ calls and requests for nearly a month.
“‘Listen girl, this is your career, I see a bright future for you,’” Lucas said to Trina. “‘You need to be in the music business. You’re a star.’ Yeah, I had to beg her to get into the music business.”
Her first song began as a favor for Trick Daddy, a Dirty South rapper with a hoarse, horn-like sound and a signature gold grill. Trick Daddy’s initial aim was to stay clear of booty-shaking music, synonymous with Miami, and released his first album “Based on a True Story” documenting his life living in the Pork N’ Bean projects, or Liberty City, in 1997. In one verse of the song “They Don’t Live Long” he raps, “I wanna buy me a Benz, but I’m fifty-grand short.”
After the release of Trick Daddy’s hit “Nann” featuring Trina, her rap career catapulted, with the song hitting No. 3 on U.S. Hot Rap Tracks and No. 62 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100 list in 1999. Trina, who quickly became known as the “Baddest Chick,” following the drop of her 2000 song “Da Baddest Chick,” described the term as holding your own weight without having to rely on a male counterpart. It’s not just a phrase but a course of action, she said.
“You really got to be hustling, you got to really be on your grind... you have to be a person that people want to listen or learn from,” she said.
More than two decades later, that sentiment remains as Trina’s career continues to flourish.
In October, Trina was featured in the music documentary series “A Closer Look” on ALLBLK TV, which profiles R&B, Soul and Hip-Hop artists who have reshaped the industry with chart-topping records. Trina also co-hosted the “Trick and Trina Morning Show” on the 99JAMZ radio station, until the end of their two year contract in 2020.
“You understand certain things about radio that you probably didn’t know,” she noted about co-hosting the morning show. “How do your records get played, how are they not getting played?”
Trina is also a cast member on the VH1 series Love & Hip Hop Miami and preparing for the February “Legendz of the Streetz” tour in Detroit featuring artists like Gucci Mane, Rick Ross and 2 Chainz. The new era of women rappers such as Latto and the City Girls have embraced her music, Lucas said, and have collaborated with her on records.
“She knows her fan base, she knows her sound, she knows her delivery and she mastered that,” he continued. “She made other females want to duplicate that.”
Few male artists have been able to sustain their music careers, and stay on top, like Trina. She’s a legend, Lucas added, who continues to evolve.
“When you say Down South female rapper, you got to give it to her,” he said. “She’s the baddest, I don’t care what nobody says.”