Growing up poor in the ghetto, Katrina Laverne Taylor’s goal was to make a better life for herself. A native of Liberty City - arguably Miami’s roughest neighborhood - Trina never expected to end up famous. Working first as a stripper (where she befriended yet-unknown Miami rapper Trick Daddy ), and then successfully as a self-employed real estate agent in the upscale neighborhood of Pembroke Pines, Trina’s debut in the music industry occurred when Trick convinced Trina to rap a verse on his first album, www.Thug.com, in 1997. Her verse on the surprise hit single Nann Nigga caught the interest of Miami Rap label Slip-N-Slide records (Trick Daddy, Rick Ross , Plies), who signed her in 1999.
She released her first album Da Baddest Bitch in 2000. Her most successful album to date, it sold over 900,000 copies and established Trina as Miami’s reigning female rapper. Like contemporaries Foxy Brown and Lil’ Kim, Trina’s sultry demeanor and unabashedly explicit lyrics - not to mention her curvaceous figure - practically sold the records for her. Songs like Da Baddest Bitch and 69 Ways are hallmark examples of her sexy, raunchy style of rap.
Trina’s next two albums, Diamond Princess and Glamorest Life, were not as commercially successful as Da Baddest Bitch, though Trina continued to gain rep in the southern rap scene and nationwide as she made the cover of magazines like The Source and XXL. Here We Go Again and Don’t Trip from Glamorest Life deviate somewhat from her explicit style in favor of a more mature and independent vibe, though she proves in Diamond Princess‘s No Panties that she can still get down and dirty. Her latest album Still Da Baddest hits store shelves in April 2008, riding on the success of her Billboard-charting hit Single Again. Promising to take her game up a notch, Still Da Baddest is slated to feature an all-star cast, featuring the likes of Kanye West, DJ Khaled, The Runners, Lil‘ Wayne, Rick Ross, Plies, and Missy Elliott.