Trina: Live & Uncut
Label: Slip-N-Slide Records
Author: Pedro 'DJ Complejo' Hernandez

It's a bad sign when even after watching a DVD you are not quite sure what it is. The front cover of the DVD proclaims "Trina: Live & Uncut" so one would expect a live concert and maybe some footage of Trina one would not usually see on TV. Flip the DVD over and the back says "Trina: Sex, Money, and Jewels: The Documentary" leading you to expect maybe a story of Trina if not from childhood then at least from the moment she decided to take up rap. My best guess is that the back cover is an advertisement of a Trina documentary that to my knowledge has never been released since the footage contained on the DVD is nothing close to a documentary. As with almost all DVD releases by rappers, fans will usually appreciate the material much more than the casual listener. In this case, even fans will have a hard time appreciating Trina live or uncut.

The first red flag on this DVD is the absolutely horrible video quality. Both the concert and behind the scenes footage looks to be filmed on a home camera by a non-professional camera person. I'm actually not a stickler for video quality as I'm used to lesser quality video production in horror films, but for someone signed to a major record label (at the time) there really is no excuse for not having professional quality video. But even with bad video quality the DVD could be saved with compelling footage, sadly there is nothing compelling to be found here. We get some footage of Trina performing a concert in some hole in the wall club where the highlight seems to be some drunken patron who has a wad of cash. The dude finds his way on stage and flashes his money and gets a lame dance from Trina. The whole ordeal is sad, from the venue, to a rapper putting on a show that resembles a strip club. Other footage that is somewhat noteworthy is the "making the video" segments that basically make up the remainder of the DVD. We get to see Trina and Tweet behind the scenes as they film the video for "No Panties" and we also get to see Trina and a younger Rick Ross on the set of the "Told Y'all" video from the "It's All About the Benjamins" soundtrack. It's semi-interesting to see Rick Ross before he blew and became the "hustler" of the year but we get no real insight on either artist. Given the low quality the DVD isn't really much good even if you love said songs and wanted a copy of the music video. The remainder of the footage is just someone filming what goes on after the concert, on the way to the video shoot, etc. Nothing worth watching is found and we never really get to hear Trina too much.

"Trina: Live & Uncut" is really just an attempt to sell sex deceptively. On the cover you'll see Trina in a revealing outfit and the word "uncut" and assume you might be getting some raunchy footage from a raunchy rapper. Inside you'll find nothing of the sort nor anything even a fan of Trina might want to see. You combine that with the horrible quality on the release and you end up with a DVD that's a waste of time and money. To boot, this wasn't even released at Trina's high point in her career so in all likelihood it didn't even get the attention of the people it was aimed for. I wouldn't recommend this even if Trina is your all time favorite rapper.

Content: 2 of 10 Layout: 2 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 2 of 10

Originally posted: April 24, 2007
source: www.RapReviews.com