Trina: Diamond Princess : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

In the two years since Trina came out with Da Baddest Bitch, her raunchy rapping has evolved into sheer nasty insanity. Diamond Princess is a collection of unusually complex hip-hop fantasies: Space Age sound effects vault "Ladies 1st" into a girl-power anthem for the cyber age; the rhythm lags jarringly, and effectively, behind the tune on "Party Don't Stop." Ludacris guests on the skittery "B R Right," and Missy Elliott has diva-ish fun snapping and wailing on "Rewind That Back." And "I Wanna Holla" sports the funniest fake Latin music since West Side Story. Trina puts her choppy, workmanlike rhyme flow to good use on tracks such as "No Panties." Who needs 'em? She's got everything else: soul, sass and a dirty mouth.

ARION BERGER
(RS 905 - Sept. 19, 2002)