Trina - Diamond Princess

If Princess Di was what Middle England saw as the People's Princess, then Trina is what the kids on the street see as the Diamond Princess. A lady in control of her own destiny, sexually liberated  and dealing with her own doe. If anybody's calling her a ho' or a b*tch it's coming from her own mouth in the tradition of the male dominated hip hop heads calling each other n**gers. "Diamond Princess" is all about the feminisation of hip hop, but whereas Destiny's Child come from a strict religious upbringing and talk about respecting yourself as a lady, Trina talks out to the girls who "could have made love, but I wanna be f*cked".

Hooking up with her fellow female MC's on "Rewind That Back" with Missy Elliott" and Eve on "Ladies 1st" and Tweet on "No Panties", if it wasn't for the sex you could imagine a future in hip hop where they take their props from Valerie Solanas Society For Cutting Up Men (S.C.U.M) essay. Yet, you could never imagine a girl like Trina living in a world without men. Despite her fiercely independent spirit it's the men the lyrical passages keep coming back do - f*cking men, using men, not relying on men, how useless men are - if I was going to be obvious you could say that this Diamond Princess is looking for her Prince and having one hell of a ride along the way.

Armed with a box of samples from the O'Jays on "You & Me", "Candy Girl" on "Kandi" and "Conga" on Get This Money" it has a playful nature which hasn't existed in female led hip-hop since back in the day with Salt & Pepper. For every line of b*tches, ho's and cum guzzlers she balances it with a tongue in cheek reply which can't help but balance up the ying and yang between the sublime and the ridiculous. As she's the first to admit she's "da baddest b*tch" and "Diamond Princess" isn't one for delicate minds. Still if you're looking for real female led hip-hop rather than the booty shaking Destiny Child's R&B shtick you could do worse than check it out here. It may not be Valerie Solanas, but it's the nearest were getting to a real voice in hip hop in 2002.

Alex McCann

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