Obie Trice Album: “Second Round's on Me [Edited]”

Obie Trice, a member of Shady Records, has released his sophomore effort, called "Second Round's On Me". His first album, "Cheers", released back in 2003, was a very promising debut. I loved that album, and I'm starting to like this one just as much as I like his first. Obie has definitely been through a lot this year. He was almost killed when someone shot him in a driveby in Detroit, and he also lost his cousin Proof (R.I.P.). So, I thought that Obie would definitely come with it on this album. I've been waiting for this for a long time, considering the release date was pushed back quite a few times. Well now it's finally out and it doesn't let me down at all.

After the intro, which is his mom yelling at him because he's selling drugs, the very first song is "Wake Up". I love this cut. He rhymes about how Black people need to wake up before society takes them down. Good track to start out with. "Violent" is next. Honestly, it's nothing special, but I like Obie's chorus and I like the beat by Eminem. Of course, it's about how he's violent. The next track, "Wanna Know", is the first track I heard from this CD a long time ago. This was on a certain video game's soundtrack but I can't remember which one. Anyway, I love this cut. The sample on the chorus is great. Obie's rhymes are on point as well. "Snitch" with Akon is a track I have mixed feelings about. One thing is, the whole "don't snitch" thing wasn't that good to begin with, and now it's played out. BUT, Akon's chorus is very, very catchy. It's hard to deny a song with Akon on the chorus (atleast with me it is). And the song sounds pretty good, despite the topic being too cliche. So it's actually an okay track. "Cry Now" is another cut that was released as a single (I think). I seen the video for it on IMF one day. The song is great. The beat by Witt & Pep is awesome, and Obie tells the haters they can cry now. "Ballad of Obie Trice" is nice too. Eminem made a beat that has an electronic voice saying "Ob-ie Trice" over and over again for the chorus, which I think is cool. "All of My Life" featuring Nate Dogg is a catchy song made for the ladies. It's kind of like a laid-back party track. I like the beat by Trell, and Nate Dogg's chorus is catchy, as always. "There They Go" is sort of like a Detroit posse cut, with Eminem and Trick Trick appearing. Everyone drops good verses, especially Eminem, and the production is good. Trey Songz drops a good chorus on "Mama", and 50 Cent stops by to give a decent chorus to "Everywhere I Go". "Obie Story" is probably the best song this album has to offer. It starts off with Obie telling how he was as a little kid, then to him slanging dope, and then his daughter being born and how he changed his life around. The production by Jonathon Rotem is excellent and so are Obie's lyrics. Perfect way to end the album.

The album does have a few duds as well. "Lay Down" isn't necessarily a bad cut, but Obie's flow doesn't match the beat that well. The song sounds a little off-kilter. "Jamaican Girl" falls flat, and is basically a filler song. "Kill Me A Mutha" is just another song in the same boat as "Violent" and "Lay Down". "Out of State", where Obie raps about how he's going to get his paper no matter what, is just another hustling track that fails to take off. "Ghetto" has a nice chorus by Trey Songz, but again, the concept is worn out. There's been way too many "this is the ghetto" type tracks and they get old after awhile. "24's" is another done-to-death song. Who cares what his rims are sitting on? I don't. Despite these drawbacks, the album is another solid one from Obie. I like that he doesn't overload his album with skits and that it doesn't play for much over an hour, as I think it only clocks in at 62 minutes. There are too many albums that have a whole 79 minutes worth of crappy music. I'm glad this doesn't.

Yes, the album may be a really dark album, but if I had been through what he's been through this year, my album would be dark as well. I still wouldn't say that this album beats Cheers, and I don't even think it's as good as Cheers, but it's definitely a good album. I think that on his next album, Obie needs to stay away from worn-out subject matter and topics in his songs so there won't be as much filler on his next album. Tracks like "Out of State", "Kill Me A Mutha", and especially "24's" don't belong on an Obie Trice CD. But all the good tracks this album has to offer override the bad ones. So all in all, Obie has made another good record. Nice lyrics and decent production make for a great listen. If you're an Obie Trice fan, you won't be disappointed by picking this up. I still recommend this to any one who likes Hip-Hop as well.

It really had slipped under my radar that Obie Trice was coming out with his second album this month. I hadn't really heard anything from him in awhile except for recently. It's been three years since his debut dropped which was an excellent effort! Cheers was a very enjoyable album with it's lighthearted humor, tales of things he'd been through, dis tracks and deep, painful songs. It was probably one of the more underrated albums of '03. Second Round's On Me didn't quite reach the level of Cheers after me first listen, but there is no sophomore jinx in my view either. It is still good listen. The CD starts off with what Obie talked about in his listen album with him and his mom, a skit that revisits that moment when his mom discovered the work he was selling and kicked him out the house. It leads into a track called Wake Up, which Obie challenges his people to wake up and realize what it is they want to do with their lives. Violent is a cool track, then after that you have Wanna Know and Snitch, which were the first two tracks I heard before the album. They have grown on me a lot. Wanna Know has a rock edgy feel to it as it samples from Van Halen and Snitch features Akon on the hook which made the song even tighter! Cry Now is probably one of the better tracks along with Ballad of Obie Trice and Jamaican Girl. After that, the album kind of tails off in the latter half. Maybe only a few songs that you can take out of there. The song with Eminem, Big Herk and Trick Trick is one of them as Obie and Em really work well together as they did on the first album. The track where Nate Dogg makes an appearance as okay for now. Everywhere I Go with 50 kind of caught me by surprise. When I saw the package, I figured it would be a violent song or a type of clubbanger beat to it. Not even! It's kind of slowed down off-pace beat on which at the end they talk of how thoughts change once you get a chance to step outside the hood and see other things. Pretty decent track! Obie's Story is probably the best on the back end. He tells his story from childhood when he was excelling in school to young adulthood with his being a drug dealer to growing up as a man and becoming a father which changed his whole demeanor and way of life into being a rapper. What makes even tighter is how they switched up the beat to match the points in the story. The beat starts off all happy-go-lucky with its upbeat feel, then goes into deep heavy bass and drum type deal where you can feel pain and anger of the beat and goes back again when he starts to talk about life with his daughter. Listen for yourself to see what I'm talking about. It was a very nice wrap-up. This album kind of strays away from Cheers as Obie tries to take it in another direction with the production he got, although he kind of stays with his first album in the aspect of going a bit deeper into his own life. I cannot give this album the level status of Cheers, but Obie keeps himself around with another good effort. Thanks for seconds!

The first time I remember hearing about Obie Trice was on D12's Devil's Night skit where Obie lays down a preview verse of things to come. I was impressed and patiently waited for his debut album 'Cheers.' I got the album and I wasn't disappointed at all, it was a great album in almost every aspect. After the 'Cheers' hype died down, I couldn't wait until his new album. Finally, after all the push backs and delays, he release 'Second Round's On Me.' I'll have to admit that I was a little disappointed with the album, although it was very good, it was no 'Cheers.' I think the bar was set a little too high because of it, but it's not unusual for an artist to not surpass his debut with his later albums. However, Obie still delivers a solid album.

The album starts off with a pretty useless intro that he could've done without. It's just a little skit of his mother finding dope in his room and kicking him out of the house. That leads in to the first song "Wake Up" which is a great start to the album. He just lays down a long verse and a hook at the end. All the singles "Snitch," "Cry Now" and "Jamaican Girl" are great songs, it's a shame that MTV and other stations wouldn't play "Snitch" because of the content. The album didn't get much promotion because of this, and it's probably going to hurt his sales big time. Eminem does most of the producing for the album, and he does a nice job with that. My favorite songs are "Cry Now," "Everywhere I Go" and "Obie's Story." Most of the choruses are good but some could use some work. "Ballad Of Obie Trice" is a prime example of this, the chorus was annoying. All the guest appearances do an amazing job on the album, especially Akon on the "Snitch" chorus and Eminem's nasty verse on "There They Go." Obie shows off a variety of different flows on this album, it really shows his versatility. This album is definitely worth your money and you won't be disappointed. I would suggest it to any real hip hop fans and any fan of Shady/Aftermath/G-Unit records.

Alright, first off let me address the topic that Obie sophomore album, "Second Round's On Me", is not better than his debut, "Cheers". Don't get me wrong, Cheers was a great album, one that i also rated 5 stars. However, over these past couple of years since, Obie has gotten better in flow, delivery, and overall lyrical skill.

You know what i think, i think obie and the whole aftermath management f***'ed up when they decided that "Got Some Teeth" should be Obie's debut single. They put out one of the worst songs on that album. There were so many other choices. That is why he is not in the mainstream of hip-hop right now. However he does deserve it. He already had 3 singles shown on tv before the cd came out, all of which are great songs... Jamaican Girl, Cry Now, and Snitch. All 3 of these are definitely worthy of airplay of both tv and radio. Obie doesnt get that though, he gets his loyal following from those who bought and liked his first album. He is not that well respected as an artist because of that.

However, Second Round's On Me is one of the best albums I've heard in a while, probably since The Carter 2. I think the highlight of the album is of course, song 18... "Obie's Story".

He starts off... "It's such a beautiful thing, being raised by a woman thats a queen// with big dreams for the youngest sibling// O couldnt do no wrong, according to report cards Obie brought home//" He then shows how the environment around him changes him, and that, coupled with his father leaving turns him into a soldier... "Now a ni**a's out in the streets// Two Nickel-plated 38's on me// Cant stay away from beef//" Then he finally has a baby girl and it once again changes his life... "Had to slow my roll//Plus my PO's got a ni**a pissin in a bowl// Lower my temperament, cuz i see such innocence when i look in Kobe's Pup-ils//"

The Cd is great, not just that song, but almost every one. I've been bumpin it in my car ever since i got it... something i couldnt necessarily do with the first one. My advice, go get it, its unbelievable.

Second Round's on me is Obie Trice's second effort at producing an album for fans of the Detroit rap scene. I can honestly say that this album is more of the same as the first album. The only difference is that Obie has tried to get out a lot of anger on this album. You can hear the anger, frustration and sadness in his words on this album.

He speaks volumes on the struggle of growing up less fortunate and not being able to catch a break. You can also hear the frustration of being shot and surviving the bullets.

This album is not good to listen to if you are depressed and you really focus on the words. It will make you think that life is worthless.

On the other hand, if you enjoy gansta rap, this is the album for you. There is no shortage of gunplay and drug references here.

Personally, the production could be a little better. The Eminem/50 Cent/Dre sound is getting old( eventhough Ill still Support these guys As Artists)

There are a couple of head banging songs, but not enough for me to reccommend this album over others Like Beanie Segal, or Snoop Dogg.

Keep it up though Obie. the sophomore Jinx is over now...