Tina Reborn: Hoodcelebrityy on Her Pain, Cardi B Beef & More

For years, fans knew her as HoodCelebrityy, the Jamaican-born, Bronx-raised dancehall artist whose high-energy performances, genre-bending sound and infectious hits made her a force across reggae, hip-hop and R&B.

Now, she wants the world to know the woman behind the name.

Ahead of the release of her upcoming album TINA, the artist formerly known as HoodCelebrityy is embracing a new chapter that is about far more than a name change. It is about vulnerability, healing, family, growth and finally allowing audiences to see sides of herself she once kept firmly behind the curtain.

Radio/TV personality Jazmyn Summers chopped it up with Tina for Radio One, where the artist opened up about everything from the painful experiences that helped shape her transformation to reconnecting with the father she never knew, her longtime friendship with Cardi B and what fans can expect from the new project.

It All Started in COVID

“I mean, I feel like it all started in COVID,” Tina explained when asked about the evolution from HoodCelebrityy to Tina. “Everyone actually got a chance to sit down with themselves.”

For Tina, that period of introspection revealed a side of herself that had long been hidden.

“HoodCelebrityy don’t really open up,” she said. “HoodCelebrityy is more reserved and she keeps everything in and is more the gangster.. Tina is more being more about being vulnerable.” 

That vulnerability was born from some difficult personal experiences.

Tina recalled suffering a severe reaction after taking an edible while visiting Toronto for a performance, an experience she says resulted in repeated hospital visits over the course of about a year. She also experienced panic attacks and anxiety, struggles she had never learned to openly discuss growing up in a Jamaican household.

“I was going through a lot mentally,” she shared. “ And growing up in a Jamaican household, I didn’t know we had things like that. We don’t talk about depression. We don’t talk about anxiety.”

During that period, Tina says she prayed for a way through.

“I got on my knees and I said, ‘God, if you bring me back and take me out of the situation, I promise I will just continue the legacy in a different vibe, higher vibration, the energy that I’ll put out there,’” she recalled.

That promise fueled her desire to become more open about her struggles, particularly because she knows there are people who may recognize themselves in her story.

“I have a real story and there’s so much people that go through things,” Tina said. “I feel like if I open up more to them, they’ll be like, damn, okay, I’m not the only one that’s going through that.”

Her story includes growing up without her father, being raised by a single mother and immigrating from Jamaica to the United States. Tina says the circumstances of her childhood helped create the toughness associated with her former persona.

“I feel like growing up in a household where my mom is a single mom, it pushed me. It gave me no choice but to be strong, which is where the HoodCelebrityy came from. I’m the head of my household. I’m the one that helps my mom with everything.”

Her immigration journey brought another layer of challenges. Tina said she once felt embarrassed about her circumstances, including being unable to travel or obtain certain jobs because of her status.

“Wow. Embarrassed to tell people I couldn’t travel, I couldn’t get a proper job, I didn’t have certain things,” she said. “But it also taught me to be brave.”

That bravery eventually extended to confronting one of the biggest unanswered questions in her life.

Last year, after taking a DNA test in Toronto, Tina found and met her biological father for the first time.

The reunion might have been unimaginable for the tougher HoodCelebrityy persona, but Tina says she has learned to approach life differently.

“HoodCelebrityy would’ve never done that,” she said. “HoodCelebrityy was the, ‘I don’t care. I don’t need you right now. I got my money. I made it already.”

“Tina was more like, ‘Everybody deserve a second chance.’”

The reunion has not been effortless, but Tina says she is grateful she chose to open that door.

“It’s not easy, but we almost there,” she said of the relationship.

Her Relationship with Cardi B

That same evolution has changed the way she views her relationship with another important figure in her career: Cardi B.

The two have been friends since their teenage years, long before Cardi became one of the biggest stars in music. Cardi’s early support helped bring attention to Tina’s music, including sharing one of her freestyles online. Tina later appeared alongside Cardi on “Island Girls,” among other collaborations. Her early career also included signing with the same label associated with Cardi. But the deal caused beef. “She told Vibe Magazine in 2018 that the strain in their relationship occurred after she secured a contract with Cardi’s former manager Klenord “Shaft” Raphael. During Cardi’s time with Shaft, Cardi scored her No. 1 single “Bodak Yellow” and featured Hoodcelebrity during numerous performances but when HoodCelebrityy’s deal happened, their friendship went out the window. “When Cardi got signed, I feel like I got signed, but when I got signed I got cursed out,” she said, revealing that Cardi discovered the news through social media which added more fuel to the fire.

Now,  rather than viewing Cardi’s support through the lens of what more she should have done, Tina says maturity has taught her to appreciate what she did do.

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“People don’t owe you anything,” Tina said. “I got family who never supported me, who I’ve never posted my music, not even one time.”

She added, “So now that I’m older and I’ve learned so much and have more experience, I will always appreciate Cardi for that.”

That sense of gratitude and perspective seems to run through TINA, which the artist describes as her most vulnerable and creatively liberated work yet.

“I’m super excited for my fans to hear all my hard work,” she said. “I work very hard on this album. I put a lot of energy into it.”

And fans can expect to hear more than the hard-charging dancehall persona they may remember.

“The other side to me too, the more vulnerable, the sexy,” Tina teased.

Music Versatility

Her musical versatility has long been part of her identity. Born and raised in Jamaica before moving to the Bronx at age 12, Tina developed a sound that draws from both worlds. She also revealed to Summers that her artistic background goes beyond singing and dancehall.

“I went to school for music and dance,” she said. “So I used to play the violin too. So I really love music. It’s something that’s really a passion for me. So every time I do it, I give it my all.”

That passion is evident in the return of “Walking Trophy,” her breakout anthem that has found a new generation of listeners after resurfacing on TikTok years after its original release. The song’s official video has amassed tens of millions of views, while the track remains one of her signature records.

Tina is also excited about what comes after the album. She wants to tour, return to her hometown and make a radio run in Jamaica. But one of her biggest personal goals is bringing her mother along for the ride.

While the new Tina is embracing vulnerability, she has not lost her personality or her standards.

Asked about her bad habits and pet peeves, she laughed that she gives people too many chances, while admitting that a dirty house is absolutely unacceptable.

“My house have to be clean. My bed have to be spread in the morning,” she declared.

As for potential romantic prospects, Tina knows what she wants: ambition and consistency.

“Ambition is everything and I love consistency. That’s so important.”

With TINA arriving, the artist is stepping into a chapter that feels less like a rebrand and more like an unveiling.

HoodCelebrityy built the foundation. Tina is opening the door and letting fans see what was underneath it all along.

As Tina put it simply: “I feel like I’ve grown so much as an artist, as a human – my sound has grown so much… I’m evolving.” And judging by the love already pouring in for her new music, her fans are excited to evolve with her.

Article by Jazmyn Summers.   You can hear Jazmyn every morning on “Jazmyn in the Morning “on Sirius XM Channel 362 Grown Folk Jamz.  Subscribe to Jazmyn Summers’ YouTube. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.