Trina - Still da Baddest

Trina did it again!!!!

This album is another hot one for tha bad chicks out there. I am a big trina fan and she managed to come wit it again. July 1, 2008

Album Review: Trina, Is She Still Da Baddest B@#$!??

You damn skippy she is. Trina smashed back on to the scene earlier this year with her hot new album "Still Da Baddest B@$!". From the start of the album, Trina is in rare form hitting you hard and early with "Killing You Hoes", which is a track that tells all the chicks out there that are hating on here exactly what they can do. This one is definitely gone to the be the back up off me track of the summer for all the baddest chicks out there.

Then comes the first single off the album "I Got A Thang For Ya f/Keyshia Cole". This track has been out for a while but can still be heard bumping in cars all over the country. The track combines Trina being Trina mixed with that beautiful voice of Ms. Cole to create a song that just says all those things that sometimes you wish you could say but can never find the words. I know you like is he talking about Trina, but yep I am. This song is very well written and is Trina opening up and being very vulnerable.

I had to admit I was a little worried that this would spend to much time dissing former boyfriend Lil Wayne, but I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't. Don't get me wrong she doesn't let him off without saying her peace and she does. There is off course the banger "Single Again" which is the Diamond Princess proudly proclaiming that she is back on the market and hotter than ever. The only other song that she really seems to be talking about Weezy is on "I Wish I Never Met You", a track with her strongly describing some situations that you can't help thinking if she is talking about Wayne, but she never really says. Both tracks you can pretty easily tell that is talking about him but she does it in a way that shows that for how hard she acts she is a very classy lady.

Now you didn't think she was going to let you go without a few classic bangers and she doesn't. My favorite track of this type is "Clear It Out", I can see this one bumping in clubs all summer long. We folks start hating on you, tell em to clear it out. For all you hardcore Trina fans you will have noticed that she has very much cleaned up her flows, hardly ever getting as raunchy as the classic flows from her first few albums that made her famous and infamous all at the same time. But that is not to say that she don't bring it out a few times on this album and she does. Soon as "Look Back At Me f/Killer Mike" drops you know instantly that even though she doesn't use it as often she still has that razor tongue that she is known for. The song is well, all I am going to say is listen to it. She ain't playing. The other track that she kind of takes it there on is "Phone Sexx", where she basically describes how she has some fun by engaging in some very racy phone conversations.

Trina is definitely back with a vengeance. I don't know what happened with her and Lil Wayne but she is definitely handling it with grace and class and something tells me that Weezy may be missing her sooner than she will be missing him. In any case, this is the hardest rap album I have heard from female artist in a long time and with it, it seems that the Diamond Princess may be ready to take here as the Queen of the rap game. May 31, 2008

...

This is a horrible album. To make it simple, the beats are out of control and the lyrics are wack. Can we please come wit somthing a little more creative? "Clear It Out"? "Killing You Hoes"? Somebody please kill THAT hoe... I had to delete that album from mu iTunes immediately. May 25, 2008

2½ stars - Half good, half bad, nothing really in between.

Believe it or not, this was my first time purchasing a Trina album. It's not that I haven't liked any of her songs in the past, because I have. I guess she was just never one of my top priority artists. I immediately took notice of her, though, with her 2000 (or maybe 1999) debut single, "Da Baddest Chick." I actually liked the song initially--although it sounds a bit dated today--and the video, which showed her smashing all kinds of things with a baseball bat, was pretty amusing, too. The next single was the summer-anthem, "Pull Over," which had my head bobbing for quite awhile. I pretty much enjoyed most of her singles, including "Told Y'All," the song she did with Tweet and Missy Elliott, and of course "Single Again." I've thought about buying her past three albums when each came out, but I became uneasy about them after listening to samples. They just didn't affect me the way her singles did and the production sounded a bit sub-par. However, the samples for this album sounded much better, and with her initial success with this album--debuting at her highest Billboard chart position ever--I decided to finally give one of Trina's album a try.

The album opens with a terribly stupid and useless intro, which is just here to take up an extra minute. The smarter choice would've been to just begin the album with the first full-length track, "Still Da Baddest." The superb production is upbeat and dramatically triumphant, a perfect canvas for Trina's confident and boastful lines about her survival and success in the music business. (Believe it or not, this female emcee has been in the rap game for one or two years shy of a decade). The first single, "Single Again," is also one of the best tracks from this set; it has a catchy chorus and is a bonafide ladies' anthem. I really can't understand why the song wasn't very successful. "Look Back At Me" should definitely be a future single, with its simplistic, dirty South production mixed with chopped and screwed vocals. "I Got A Bottle," which features a guest appearance from Missy Elliott, is a fun and playful club song. On "Clear It Out," Trina gives us a piece of her mind, stating how she is fed up with haters, critics, and aspiring female rappers who think the life is easy. And "Hot Commodity" is a great closing track; it's just as upbeat and proud as the opening song. Unfortunately, those were the only tracks that I was really pleased with. The rest are pretty unexciting. "I Got A Thang For You" and "Wish I Never Met You" both desparately try to replicate her most successful single to date, "Here We Go Again." (Which I didn't think was that great in the first place). The production isn't great, and Trina's rhymes are way too laid-back and lazy. "Killing You..." is bland and very repetitve and "Phone" is simply here for shock value, nothing more. Last, "Stop Traffic" suffers from subpar production and a really lame hook. (Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know green means "go" and red means "stop." That's not clever!)

The bottom line: So... I've finally bought a Trina album. While it's a bit better than I was expectting, Still Da Baddest is far from flawless. It has several excellent tracks that I thoroughly enjoyed, but there is no medium on here. It's either really good, or really bad, and there are just as many bad songs as there are good. Most of the time Trina's rhymes are okay and even sometimes great (except for the somewhat pitiful deliveries on the two ballads). What really causes this album to suffer is the lack of quality in production, hooks, or song ideas. If you're a Trina fan, buy it. If not, I wouldn't really recommend it. Sure there are some good tracks here, but they are barely worth it for me.

Key tracks: Single Again, Look Back At Me, Still Da Baddest, Hot Commodity. May 18, 2008

Diamond Princess

What a great CD! In my opinion, it is the best Trina release to date.
Along with her tight raps; there is great melodic hooks and hot beats.

The first single, "Single Again", is so catchy and makes you want to dance. You will be singing along in no time. She gets raw and raunchy on "Look Back At Me", a song you will be listening to over and over again. There are a few songs that I skip over but, for the most part, every song is a standout and worth every penny for the purchase.
I feel Trina is on top of her game on this CD with great producers and her hottest rhymes to dat. A must have for any rap or Trina fan. May 6, 2008

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