Trina
Interview By Matt Sonzala and Miami Mac
From Murder Dog Vol. 9# 3
It's been a couple years since your last album. What have you been up to?
I did of features. I did the song with Silkk the Shocker, I did the Camron remix, I did the song with Ludacris, Jagged Edge, just like a lot if different stuff. And I was still on the road, so I was doing shows and still working, I never really had a break and right from there we started on my second album. Even though I wasn't out, I was working on it, plus touring and doing concerts or whatever. So I've been real busy. I haven't taken one break yet.
Where has the road taken you?
It's good, it's taken me a lot of places. I've been everywhere from Florida to Alaska and overseas. So I feel very blessed and happy to do all that. It's not easy. People think it's a bunch of TV—you in the studio, you do a song or whatever and it's just fun and games, but it's really hard work. It's a 24 hour job. I'm out on the road from city to city, airplane to airplane, bus to bus. It's like a lot of not sleeping, bad eating and basically just working. You gotta be focused, determined, and really stable to be able to deal with this kind of business cause it's very unstable. You're rarely in one spot at the same time. You're barely ever home so you gotta just be prepared.
Is that a lesson you had to learn getting into the business, that it is a business, it is a job?
Not really because I came into it looking at it as a business. From the song on Trick’s album I went on the road with Trick for like a year, and it was like a hard year. We was everywhere from arenas to little clubs and little hole in the walls or whatever the case may be. And it was like in and out running. From the beginning it was business cause this is your job. This is what people come to see, they don't expect you to do anything less than put on a good show. You gotta put your all into this. You gotta stay creative, come up with different ideas, different themes. If it gets the same it's boring. People are always looking for something different, something hot, something they never seen before.
How has your show developed over the years?
It's developed a lot since I first went on the road with Trick. I have dancers, I have other guys from the label that's on the show…it's like you gotta be the mastermind of what you're doing cause people came to see you. So everything that's created around the show is basically about me. And from that point to where I'm at now it's even another bigger step so it's really like a growing process.
Who would be your picks for opening acts?
It's a lot of people that just came out that I really love. I couldn't really give you like a specific name cause it's so many, but you have to narrow it down to like 2 people. Probably we'll use some of the guys from the label like Tre+6, Deuce Pop, Rick Ross. And then probably a major big, probably a guy because I'm a girl so we want somebody for the guys.
Are these new artists you’re talking about from your neighborhood?
I'm from Liberty City. They're not really from my neighborhood, but they're from here, from Miami, Carol City, whatever. These are artists that's on the label. Tre+6 is a group, they're coming out next after me. Deuce Pop, that's another solo artist and he coming out after Tre+6. Then Rick Ross is coming out following that. So those are the other guys that I use on the road. They're on my album as well.
What's up with the new Trina album?
The new album is the Diamond Princess, that's the name of it. It's a really good album. It's me. I had some songs from Trick or Tre+6, but like the whole album, from production to everything was really set up for me. I just had to basically write it, go in the booth and just, you know. But this album was really me. I had more creative control. I put together the songs what I wanted to hear, the type of style I wanted, who I wanted. I did all the work really. I really love this album a lot. For real. And it was fun working in the studio and I got to be judgmental. If I didn't like a beat, if I didn't like a song I could turn it down. That made me more into the album and I really love it. It's really me on a higher level than before.
How much of a departure is it then?
It's really not that much of a departure. I mean, it's still sensual. It's still sexy. It's still raw and uncut. It’s like a mature version, like going from a child to a teenager or something. It's just like me stepping the game up like one step. It's really dope.
What’s the first single you plan to release off the album?
The first single is "Told Ya'll" which features Rick Ross. That's the first single but it's really the first single on the All About the Benjamins Soundtrack. That's the new Ice Cube movie. So I'm really blessed and honored to do that.
A lot of male artists in the Rap game get pressured to tone their stuff down and maybe come more commercial. Do you ever get the opposite pressure, like maybe could you heat it up some or come more sexual?
With my label the first thing they say is we gotta give what you came out giving. This is what people want to see, they want to hear you just be raw. They want to see me stand up for the women, basically talk shit. That's what they want to hear. We wanted to stay real street and we wanted to stay, not really commercial. You can always clean the record up and make it radio or commercial that's no big deal. You really want to keep it to where people in the streets can really feel you and they feel like they are a part of what you're saying. And I be out, just being in the streets period from one place to another, whether it's a beauty salon or just hanging out with my girls or hangin out with all the guys from the label I know what's going on in the streets. I know how guys kick it, how girls kick it so it's really easy for me to deliver that when I'm rhymin'. I just go in there and it's basically what I want to talk about. I want to talk about things that's gonna keep the women, keep their self esteem up, and talk about things that make them feel like I'm on their side. And then for the guy it's real sexy, it's real competitive, the whole opposite. I think about what the guys want to hear, I think about what the girls want to hear. So I really try to stay in touch with that.
Where do you like to write?
When I'm on the road mostly. When I'm in the hotel room or even some moments like if something catch me when I'm on the plane, I'm just sitting looking out the window. Or before I fall asleep I'll probably think of some thoughts and jot em down. But really when I'm by myself. When I'm around a bunch of people, I like to listen to what they're saying and I'll take little inserts, little things that we're saying and I'll take notes in my mind. Where if I'm out shopping or whatever, I get a lot of fly stuff. The different names I scream out like different name brands, things that I buy. Whether it's name brand clothing or jewelry, whatever it is that I'm seeing or whatever it is that's in at the moment, that's where I get like all the fly little slick stuff. So I'm always looking for different things. You know like new things that people haven't heard of. And I use them.
I heard you're starting your own record label?
I did actually. I just started my own label. It's called Diva Enterprises. I have my first artist signed. She's 10 years old, her name is Lil Bri, and we're working on her album as we speak. She's also on my album. We redid the song "Candy Girl," and it's really cute. The old New Edition record. She's on there rapping and I'm on there as well. We have a little guy singing the hook and it's a hot record.
Were you rapping before you did “Nann?” Was that your first song?
I love music period. Rap music was one of my favorites, but I really wasn't looking for a Rap career. So that was like the first thing for me to do that. And it was only because, like with Trick, Trick is just like raw and uncut basically. And me and him, we hung out a lot and we was around each other so much. Not that he felt like I was into the Rap music, he just felt like I was a real person. Like if you say something to me and it's like real crazy, I'm able to say something back just to snap at you. I'm able to say just one thing and just shut it down. He was looking for somebody that was really probably delivering the same type of heat and attitude that he was and it was really raw, it was uncut. There was no way to sugar coat that particular song, and he was like this is a perfect song for Trina. If I say this I know she'll come back and say a whole bunch of raw, crazy, real freaked out shit. So when I went over to his house I listened to that record and I was like damn. It was just right in my face. It was just a beat and he just went over his lyrics, and he was like you know I want you to think of everything that you possibly could think of. Whether it's like hanging out with your friends. Whether it was the streets. Whether it was the club. Whether it was one of your most freaked out experiences. It took me one day. I called him and I said it on the phone, and he was screaming and we was laughing and the next day I went in the studio and we just did it. It was like one take, one shot and the record label just blew up after that. They were like I can't believe that that is her. That's the first thing they said to me. I had them calling me back to back, trying to get me to sign. I was just doing it really like as a favor to Trick. I wasn't even focused on this. I was totally doing something else.
How do you keep up with yourself mentally, spiritually, physically, with all the touring and industry stuff?
The road is the hardest because everybody is stressed. Everybody is aggravated. Everybody has different attitudes, different mood swings or whatever, and you're dealing with a lot of people. Whether it's a dancer or the road manager to the promoter, to people that's on the road with me, other artists. So on a daily basis it's very stressful because you gotta put up with so much. For me, I try to have friends around me, people I take on the road with me. We laugh and we get into stuff that's really positive or we just try to do a lot of silly shit. Like we came back from New Orleans and on the bus we played truth or dare. We just do stuff that's really silly to make everybody have a good time, so you don't just stay focused on the business part when you're not doing business. When I'm working, when I'm hitting the stage it's all about business. Besides that, I'm having fun. I'm thinking up new ideas. I'm thinking of what I want to do on the next show. What I want to do when I get back. What I want to wear. I'm always thinking of stuff like that. But when it’s time to work it's all about work. I read magazines. I always read about what's going on. I'm always trying to find out different little things and different ways to keep my people and myself more on a positive and more grounded level,to keep all the outside negativity away. Cause you get it every day. If you keep your people around you focused on things that is good, then the things that isn't good, they can keep it away from you.
After touring so much, do you see your city any differently than you did?
Not really. Miami is Miami to me. I came up being on 15th Avenue. It's dead, it's not like how it used to be. Every store was open and people would just hang out. Now you pass by and every store is closed. You see a few people hanging out, but it's not the same really. I don't go there that much, but my grandmother’s house is in the city so I come down sometimes. I don't really go a lot of places that I used to, but the places that I do go to and the people I see, everybody is basically the same. But being in different cities and states, it makes me see that some people live the same as Miami people, but some people live even harder. It's different cities that I go in where it's like, wow! You think you have problems, there's people who have real, bigger problems or they live worse than you may imagine. So I learn, and everyday is like a growing process.
Can you walk down the street in Miami these days without getting mobbed?
No. I can't really go anywhere in Miami without a gang of attention or people knowing who I am, coming up to me and saying whatever. I'm human, I'm regular, so I deal with it.
Where do you hang out? Where would we find Trina?
Basically I don't hang out a lot. If I go out, maybe it's South Beach. Or like the Coco Walk, places where we go sit down and eat or go shopping. If I go out to a club, it's because there's something going on. I don't like to hit clubs as much because I be in clubs all the time performing. Me, I like to just chill out. I'll stay at home or we'll all get together at my moms or at a friends or I'll have everybody come over and we just chill. Maybe watch videos, probably eat and just have a good time. I really like to be laid back and out of the public eye sometimes.
Check out Trina: http://www.dabaddestchick.com
