Since Trina burst onto the scene in 1998 with her standout verse on Trick Daddy’s “Nann N***a,” she has continued to increase her presence in Black culture, and created a lane for women in hip-hop that can still be seen currently. Today, the Miami native appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk to deliver a powerful performance featuring some of her biggest hits to date.
Trina’s opening song, “Mama,” is a tribute to her late mother Vernessa Taylor, who died in September of 2019 after a struggle with cancer. Visibly emotional, the Billboard Award-winning rapper recited the lyrics to the track, and laid the foundation to what would be an amazing concert. “Now, I want to introduce you guys to the baddest bitch,” she said after the song’s closing strings, before going into her smash single “Da Baddest B*tch.”
Throughout her 15-minute set, the popular entertainer performed songs such as “Single Again,” “Here We Go,” and the aforementioned, “Nann N***a,” the record that introduced the chart-topping artists to the world. This Tiny Desk was a part of the newest episode of the brand-new season of NPR Music’s podcast Louder Than A Riot. During the episode co-hosts Rodney Carmichael and Sidney Madden spoke to the original baddest Trina to discuss her prolific career, how she raised the bar with her lyrics, redefining old stereotypes of black women, and putting Miami hip hop on a global stage.
“I believe in who I am. The game didn’t make me; I made the game. I made it,” Trina said in her Louder Than A Riot interview before recording this Tiny Desk concert. “I already came in with a motive and an initiative to know who I am from. That’s why I breed a whole universe of bad bitches.”
Take a look at Trina’s Tiny Desk in full below.