A REAL‘ HIP’ CHECK
Rapper Trina brings ‘Miami’ heat to VH1
KATRINA “Trina” Taylor — aka “The Diamond Princess” and “The Baddest Bitch” — headlines the cast “Love & Hip Hop Miami” when it premieres Jan. 1 on VH1. The Miami-based rapper says she’s repeatedly turned down requests to appear on reality shows — but now sees the opportunity as a solid business move.
“For me, I do music. I have a label. I have artists that I’m signing. I already built a brand for myself [and] I didn’t want to take a step back,” says Taylor, 39. “I wanted to make sure [appearing on ‘Love & Hip Hop Miami’] was something that made sense. So when I was approached this time it was a different conversation. I was already at a place where my new album would benefit.”
That album, “The One,” drops Feb. 23 and will include 13 tracks and collaborations with artists including K. Michelle, Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz. While the album is vulnerable and raw, Taylor is still the “baddest bitch,” she says.
“I just don’t take the bull. I’m very confident in who I am and I’m very sure of myself. I know what I want,” she says. “I’m very independent. I don’t depend on anything or anyone for nothing. I don’t get complacent or comfortable with living of someone [else].”
She’ll have a chance to test her wellknown attitude on her fellow “Love & Hip Hop Miami” cast members this season: Trick Daddy, Gunplay, Shay Johnson, Amara La Negra, Veronica Vega, Jojo Zarur, Bobby Lytes and Prince (aka Christopher Michael Harty). It’s the fourth “Love & Hip Hop” iteration, following seasons set in New York, Atlanta and Hollywood.
While Taylor says she intends to remain “classy” on the series, she says there’s one scenario that will cause her to get tough: “I have a bad phobia with spitting. It happened to me in the 6th grade,” she says. “I got suspended from school because I almost literally bit someone’s finger off. A guy was playing with another guy and the spit landed on my face. So on the show ... if someone spits on me, I’m going to kick their a--.
“I did have a little bit of drama [on the show] and had to put somebody in check by saying, ‘You are coming into a field that I have been doing for so long,’ ” she says. “I didn’t really clap back; it was more in a business-like way.”
In the past, Taylor’s relationships with Lil Wayne, Kenyon Martin and French Montana were very public. She says she’s not planning on publicizing any romances on her new series.
“I’m not putting you on TV to be exposed and start showing your behind,” she says. “It happened to me before in this industry, so I’m very cautious with dating. I make people famous. Every last one of them. You’re not getting no shine off of me.
“After the show airs I want people to say, ‘She is a phenomenal woman. She has conquered a lot of stuff. Even when the odds were against her and the doors were closed in her face, she was able to pull forward.’ ”