Source: Paras Griffin / Getty
In the late ’90s
Katrina Laverne Taylor, more affectionately known as just Trina, popped out on the Miami rap scene. She’d caught the attention of up-and-coming rapper
Trick Daddy, who put a young Trina on his now-famous song “Nann N*gga” — and the rest is history.
Much like the young women who rep the city today, Trina was as raw as they come, putting on for hood girls who could hold their own and go bar for bar with the fellas. Securing a deal with Slip-N-Slide Records, Trina was introduced in the era of female rappers like
Lil Kim and
Foxy Brown. She positioned herself as “Da Baddest B*tch” and quickly became a favorite of the time. More than two decades later, she continues to inspire new waves of rap girls… Alexa, cue
City Girls’ “Run Them Bands Up.”
Today, for the Queen’s birthday, we wanted to take a quick trip down memory lane to remind folks of how long Trina has been working. It’s also visual proof that she seriously has not aged a day. In an interview this past summer with Rolling Stone, she said she’s inspired by the new age women in Hip Hop today.
“You know what, it’s a beautiful feeling. It inspires me. It keeps me pushing. Because these young girls have taken something from me, some type of inspiration of small sort, and have taken that, and felt that. That they could be secure. They could do what they want to do,”
she told the outlet.
We love to see it and we will forever celebrate one of the baddest to ever do it.
