There are strong women in music, and then there's Trina. The Trick Daddy protege redefines freaky on her second album, offering a talk show-style manifesto on "Hustling" that will either curl men's toes or leave lesser fellas limp. (Let's just say it gives "cock rock" a whole new context.)

Elsewhere, Trina's all about the Benjamins, most flagrantly on "No Panties," a Missy Elliott-produced duet with Tweet featuring the unforgettable tagline, "Ain't no way that you gonna get up in this for free." If it all sounds a trifle crass and mercenary, you can't help but appreciate the packaging. Trina leaves her mentor's generic Miami bass far behind on much of Diamond Princess, going tropical with Duece Poppi on the playful "I Wanna Holla" and making like a Roc-A-Fella babe on "U & Me," with its sped-up O'Jays hook. And when she teams with fellow bad girl Eve on "Ladies First," the two create a 21st-century "Sisters Are Doin' For Themselves," laying out a catchy agenda for empowerment that includes R-E-S-P-E-C-T, as well as "Gucci on the hip/Bertilucci on the wrist."

Trina's standing in front of the Beverly Center, speaking loudly into her cell phone. Hip-hop's newest, baddest bitch has managed to get in a quick shopping spree while visiting Cali for an appearance on BET with labelmates Trick Daddy and J-Shin.

Trina is into the finer things in life, as displayed in the video for the title track and first single from her debut album, the fittingly titled Da Baddest Bitch. But despite being perceived as the money-hungry, foul-mouthed, sexually explicit female MC on Trick Daddy's 1999 hit "Nann," Trina says people are quick to blow things out of proportion.

When an opportunity arose for her to set the record straight, she jumped. And she wasn't exactly shy...

LAUNCH: Where are you?

TRINA: We're just leaving the Beverly Center. So I'm trying to leave here and get back to the hotel, so we can head out for BET.

LAUNCH: Is this your first time in California?

TRINA: I came to L.A. for the Source Awards and we had shot the J-Shin video, so this is like, my third time out here.

LAUNCH: So what do you think of the Beverly Center?

TRINA: Oh, it's great. I love it.

LAUNCH: Did you pick up anything today?

TRINA: I bought some Louie Vuitton shoes and something at the D&G store. You know, I did a little shopping. But I'm trying to, like, rush, and I couldn't really get to get to, like, a lot of stores because we got up here so late, and we're trying to leave at about three o'clock.

LAUNCH: Okay, okay. I'll get started. I was introduced to your music on the "Nann" track with Trick [Daddy]. So of course, I see this video, and I'm big fan of female MCs. I think it's cool when women come out and counteract what the guys are saying.

TRINA: Right, right. And don't have no complex. Just come out, and do it, huh?

LAUNCH: Yeah, exactly.

TRINA: [laughs]

LAUNCH: Do you feel that that was a good way to come out, introduce yourself, and show that you must be respected?

TRINA: I felt like it was a good way, because therefore people are going to respect you if you be upfront and be able to stand up for yourself and you don't really back down. And then me, I'm a very, like, egotistical person. I'm like so upfront and determined, and always want to be in charge. So it was easy for me to just come out and say what I had to say, and I'm being straight to the point, talking about the streets, and it's reality.

LAUNCH: When you say egotistical, what do you mean?

TRINA: I mean, like, I'm so upfront. I have no complex in what I say or how I feel or what I do. I feel like most people make a big deal out of it. As far as female MCs goes, because they feel that if you say "bitch" or you talk about sex or whatever, it's like a big thing. Or you're like a sex symbol. But if a man does it, it's nothing. Nobody even talks about. It's never in an interview. They don't even care. I just felt like it was good for me to just be upfront and speak my mind, and tell exactly what goes on. It's a reality thing for me, and then, this is the streets. This is how I live. This is, like, my home.

LAUNCH: I know that every interview with a female artist, they always talk to them about being a female. And you never ask a guy, "What is it like to be a male MC?" One thing that was good that I like about your record is that, if the only song of yours that someone heard was "Nann," then they'd have a certain impression of you. But when I listen to your record, I would hear you do the sex stuff, and then I would hear you come and say, "Well, this is like a means to an end. Like maybe one day it won't have to be like this, but this is the way it is." Can you talk about expanding on the image that you're putting out there?

TRINA: Just in life in general, how we live, as far as growing up and being young and being in the streets and going through relationships, that's all you really know. You know that if you're in a relationship with a guy, you know that it may last forever so long, but you're young. You're not dedicated to be with this person for the rest of your life, and you know life goes on. So basically, it's just a part of maturity to me. I was young. I was wild, but I was controllable, but I still had my share of relationships and stuff and all types of drama and issues. But as you grow up, you don't want to have to be with one person every three or four months. You want to be settled-down, more content. Find somebody who's going to be there for you or care about you, whatever. You look at life from a different perspective. Just keep it real, because people overlook the things that go on in life, and everybody makes a big deal about the sex, but to me, it ain't no real big deal.

LAUNCH: Okay, I heard Lil' Kim also say that people talk about her, but on the street, she's always coming in contact with people who say, "Oh, I'm glad you said that," because people try to act like "they're all prissy and they don't be having sex." So it was just an issue of not being afraid to speak on real stuff.

TRINA: My album wasn't really based on what people thought. This is how I did it because how I grew up. I grew up around this. I grew up around friends, so many girls, and they falling out with each other because they done messed with the same guy. Or guys trying to dog you or whatever. So it's like the sexual thing. It's something that was a part of my life on a daily basis. So this is what I talk about. I don't really care about people saying, "This is what made you," or "This is a sex thing." I don't really care about that.

LAUNCH: The first single is "Da Baddest Bitch." I like how you used Michael Jackson's "who's bad?" line from the song "Bad."

TRINA: I really love Michael Jackson. Everything he's ever done, I was really like all over. So I'm like, one of his biggest fans anyway, so you know, I just kept it in that direction. And when we came up with the track, and heard the "who's bad?"--the whole thing just really put me in the mind of him when I did it.

LAUNCH: Did you guys have to get his permission for that?

TRINA: I don't know. I think my management...I think [they had to get the] song cleared, or something like that. I really didn't get into all that. I was just happy to get the track and just ride out on it.

LAUNCH: So, "I Don't Need You," is that going to be the next single with Trick [Daddy]? Or is that just a standout song on the record?

TRINA: It's just standout. I mean, with me and Trick. It's probably like a part two to "Nann." But it was just kinda like, men feel like women really have to follow them or they need them. And me coming back to say, "Look. I don't need you. Anything you can do, I can do just as good or even better." So it's just like standing up and being strong and just taking up for myself and for women as far as the explicit or sexual [lyrics] are concerned.

LAUNCH: How long have you been rapping?

TRINA: Like, two years. I grew up with Trick, like junior high and everything like that, but I just really started getting into the music business.

LAUNCH: What made you decide to get into the music?

TRINA: I always wrote. I always knew how to write or whatever, but I never really took it serious. I was into so many things. I had little jobs. I was working for like AT&T, telemarketing, you know, I got into cosmetology, I did real estate, that was like my biggest thing. I was really focused, but when I did the thing with Trick, it was like something. I'm the type of person who always wanted to be an entertainer. It was not necessarily rap. Now, still I want to get into acting, have my own TV sitcom, do some movies and couple things like that, which I've got offers. It [rapping] just came first. [Trick] called me, and it just worked out, and I stuck with it. My whole thing was to be out, seen, outspoken, be like, in the front. I'm like, the limelight person.

LAUNCH: What made him call you?

TRINA: He was doing his whole album, and he wanted to do this song, and he was like, "Hey, I got this song. It's for this guy and this girl. And I really want you to get on it. And blah, blah, blah." I was like, "A song? I don't think so!" And I was like, "Well, I do write, so I can probably [do it], let me see." I listened to the track. I listened to his lyrics, and I was like, "Wow." He just came hard. So I was like, "Okay." And he was just like, "Just think of everything that ever happened in your life or things you've been through, anything you could think of. Just come off on the song." So I kinda went home, and I kinda put together some of my personal experiences, some experiences of some friends and other people I know, and just the basic things in life that go on in individual's lives. So I just kinda pulled that all together, and then I came up with my verse, and I just said, "F--k it, this is it. This is it. It's raw, it's raunchy. It's upfront. I'm not beating around the bush. I ain't hiding, and I ain't got to cover up. This is what goes down in the city, in the streets, whatever."

LAUNCH: Okay, so I have to ask you. When I heard the album version of "Nann," I was like, "Oh my gosh!" Lil' Kim is like nothing compared to you. You are crazy!

TRINA: A lot of people are like, "How do you feel about just being so upfront? Because there are so many female MCs that would love to say the things that you say, but they just don't...I love Kim. I listen to her music. I've always been like a fan of hers or whatever and so I respect her, and I hope she feels the same way about me. It's just that me and her, I feel, went down two different roads. So I feel that what we talk about is explicit and sexual things, but it's real. And so many people try to knock you for that, but I mean, for what? Everybody does what we talk about. The sex. The money issues. The cheating. The guys. The whole sh-t is what goes on in life every day.

LAUNCH: So let me ask you this question; this will be all that I have to ask you about the sex stuff: So in "Nann," when you say you "can do five or six best friends" and when you talk about the "ménage a trois," in what way are you saying that?

TRINA: The five or six best friends thing is like, I've been in all types of relationships and all types of issues and all types of things, whatever. But I've never actually like messed with any of my guys or their friends or whatever. But I have girls and other people who have actually gotten into that. I've had my share of relationships, whether they were good or bad, or what have you. And as far as the ménage a trois, the bisexuality, I'm not bisexual, but it's reality to me. I have sexual friends. I don't care if that's their thing, they do it, but I'm aware of it. I know it's around. I know it happens. I done listened to my friends. I don't feel like it's nothing wrong with it. It's just another experience. It's just another stigma in life that I know that is real. And people are aware of it. Whether it is man and man, woman and woman, woman and man, whatever. If it's two women and a man, I'm aware that this takes place in life. In every different city and state, it goes down. So when people try to make a big deal or say, "Oh, I couldn't believe she said that," I don't know why. 'Cause I'm sure everybody knows somebody that's gay. I'm a mutual person. I could get along with anybody. Hey, I don't give a f--k what you do. You could walk around with green hair and be gay, whatever. Hey, if you cool with me, if you're a real person. I'm real, so I like you to be real with me. I don't care. I don't try to knock nobody for what they do.

LAUNCH: You have a song called "Momma" on the album. With all this in mind, has she listened to your record? What does she think?

TRINA: Yeah, my mom has listened to the record. She listened to the clean version, the dirty version. My mom, she basically knows, first of all, I don't even use profanity on a daily basis. This is entertainment. I entertain. I curse, I say my sh-t. My mom, she knows I'm from the streets. She knows everything I do, the things I can get into or whatever. The only thing she tells me, if you're going to curse, keep it as your entertainment. Just don't disrespect people. Don't use it in a way that is going to harm you, or anybody around you. She's kinda intact with what I'm going to say. She was actually able to hear everything before it was actually in place.

LAUNCH: Is there a song you'd like to release that would show people more of Trina?

TRINA: I think "Take Me" would be like the next single. It will be more me because I'm been through so much. I done did so much. You just come to a point where you can get kinda like fed-up or whatever. It's like, "Hey, I'm taking it to another level. It's about a new thing now. I've said what I had to say. I done let people know I feel. Now, here's Trina. I have more to endure than just explicit lyrics and talk about sex. There's more to me than that."