ARTIST: Obie Trice
ALBUM: Bottoms Up
LABEL: Black Market Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2012
Solo Venture
Written by Jeremy Weeden
Ten years ago Eminem memorably sampled the line “Obie Trice, real name, no gimmicks” from Obie Trice’s “Rap Name” on Eminem’s single, “Without Me,” and introduced the world to his protégé, Obie Trice III. Since then, Obie has released Cheers, Second Round’s on Me, and now the alcohol continues to flow with Bottoms Up. Even though Obie Trice left Shady Records, his relationships with Dr. Dre and Eminem remains intact. Eminem offers production and a guest appearance and Dre also contributes a track to the album. The album is not as Eminem-heavy as Cheers and Second Round’s on Me, so one gets to see more of Obie Trice: the artist.
Obie Trice has never been a technically complex rapper, and he doesn’t try and switch that up here. His flows are laid-back and peppered with witty wordplay, along with clever similes and metaphors. The album starts with the “Bottoms Up Intro,” where Obie thanks his fans, past labels, record executives and any and everyone who has helped him get to where he is today. This bass-heavy gem produced by Dr. Dre is a perfect start to the album and will have the listener nodding along as Obie spits lines like, “Try to understand this psychological span/From serving them grams to observing them fans/That’s right, Obie hurting ‘em man.” The next track, “Going Nowhere,” is produced by Eminem and is a bouncing, energetic track where Obie shines lyrically and one keeps waiting for him to tag off to the man behind the boards for a few bars. The production is excellent and sounds like it could be a leftover from an old Eminem album. Alas, Eminem does not actually rap on this song. The Eminem rhyme collaboration is the Statik Selektah-produced “Richard.” This is quite possibly the top track on the album as Eminem and Obie rap about the things they do and the ways they behave that leads to the conclusion that people should just call them Richard (because they’re dicks). Eminem delivers a blistering verse with his trademark rapid-fire flow and the silliness and the misogyny reminds listeners of a pre-“Love the Way You Lie” Eminem.
Obie comments on Interscope and his issues with the industry on “Ups & Downs” and “Hell Yea.” Within the latter he also addresses his relationships with Eminem and Dre, accompanied by Dre and Eminem voice samples on “Hell Yea.” This song will definitely end any lingering doubt one may have had about any bad feelings regarding Obie’s departure from Shady/Aftermath, as Obie raps, “This ain’t so long/I just had to own me.” Obie Trice also aligns with a Midwest legend, the late MC Breed of “Ain’t No Future in Yo Frontin” fame for the track “Crazy.”
Overall, Bottoms Up, is definitely an above-average album that stays true to both hip-hop and Obie Trice’s roots. Obie never tries to cross over into hip-pop and many fans will respect him for this. Bottoms Up isn’t perfect, and won’t appeal to everyone, but Obie’s fans will definitely like it. Bottoms Up is one of the better, pure hip-hop albums of the year so far, and sure to keep Obie’s celebration going.