Trina's righteous raunchiness is more than a little exhausted on
Glamorest Life, the Miami MC's third album. She seems to know it too, sounding distanced and not nearly as energized as she was on 2002's
Diamond Princess. That puts more weight on the productions and guest verses. Despite contributions from names like
Mannie Fresh,
Jazze Pha,
Needlz, and rising duo
Cool & Dre, the productions are routinely just as lacking. Take
Mannie's "Da Club," in which he more or less jacks the misty-eyed backing for
Faith Evans' "Hope."
Mannie also pitches in with a wistful reminiscence about a stripper, while
Trina helps relate the tale and remains, as always, the one calling the shots: "He wanna cram it and jam it/Put the pickle in the middle, motherf*cker, not fanny." Ironically, one of the better tracks -- roughly the umpteenth track to interpolate
Force M.D.'s' "Tender Love" -- takes on a sullen tone, even though
Trina's more defiant here than at any other point in the album: "I shed so many tears, can't believe how many years the baddest bitch put up with your dusty ass."
Lil Wayne,
Lil Scrappy,
Snoop Dogg, and
Trey Songz provide vocal support, but very little of it raises the material's quality level. ~ Andy Kellman