Trina Calls On Girl Power for ‘Amazin’ Album

It's been over a decade since Trina debuted on Trick Daddy's 'Nann N----' single, spewing lyrics so raunchy Lil' Kim might even blush. Yet despite proclaiming herself the "baddest b----" in the music game, the Miami native is more about female empowerment than drawing lines in the sand. "I'm a girly girl and a people person," she told The BoomBox. "I don't have a complex. I treat you how I want to be treated. That's how I look at everybody. I don't judge, I go in with a clean slate. I've worked with so many different women in the business, R&B and hip-hop so it's a multi-mix kinda' thing. I love women music, I love inspirational music, I love girl records, and those strong records that help you get through the tough situations.

"To collaborate with female artists, whether it's R&B or its hip-hop, to me... I think it's beautiful. We're here to work, we're here to embrace each other, we're here to be respectable [women]. We're not sleeping together, we're working together, so I don't feel [that] in a work environment it should be anything less than that."

Without the initial support of her label on 'Amazin,' Trina opted to step outside of her musical comfort zone, recording more upbeat, less sexually explicit tracks, than on her previous releases. Commissioning the assistance of artists like Keri Hilson, Monica and Lady Gaga, Trina set out to make an album which she describes as a "variance of different things" that showcase her evolution. "You just gotta' go for what you believe in because at the end of the day the [record] label [are] the people who represent you but the [record] label is not the creative form in the studio. They're not the ones with the vision, they're not the ones writing, they're not the ones experiencing what you have to say. When you're a new artist it's all about what the label says so being in the position I'm in now, I feel great and free that I'm able to do what I want and say what I want and it's my way and that's it."

Part of running things "her way" is transferring her knowledge of the industry into other business ventures, which include starting a cosmetics line and developing new artists through her company Diamond Princess Entertainment. In lieu of all her success, at the end of the day she has the same goals as many women hoping to balance their careers with their personal life. "[I want] to have successful career and to put out music that people can relate to. To feel like I continue to be successful, continue to build a brand, build an empire. Continue to go forward work with artists, be a CEO, move on to television, movies, start a family, get married. [That] is my future. "