Obie Trice

Detroit rapper Obie Trice came up in his city's vibrant turn-of-the-century rap scene as an affiliate of <a href="spotify:artist:7dGJo4pcD2V6oG8kP0tJRR">Eminem</a>'s, easily the biggest success story in Detroit hip-hop. His irreverent, rough-neck style was in line with the raw, take-no-prisoners style of Motor City peers like <a href="spotify:artist:5Qi4Bb7a8C0a00NZcA77L0">D12</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6DVipHzYsPlIoA0DW8Gmns">Royce da 5' 9"</a>. This style was in full force on his hungry 2003 debut studio album Cheers, released on <a href="spotify:artist:7dGJo4pcD2V6oG8kP0tJRR">Eminem</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Shady+Records%22">Shady Records</a>.

Obie Trice was born in 1977 and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He began rapping at a young age when his mother bought him a karaoke machine that he used to rap over the beats of <a href="spotify:artist:3CQIn7N5CuRDP8wEI7FiDA">Run-D.M.C.</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A.</a> Over the years he improved his craft remarkably, releasing tapes and competing in rap battles in the local underground scene as Obie 1. Through mutual friends in <a href="spotify:artist:5Qi4Bb7a8C0a00NZcA77L0">D12</a>, Trice was introduced to <a href="spotify:artist:7dGJo4pcD2V6oG8kP0tJRR">Eminem</a>, who ultimately signed him to his fledgling <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Shady+Records%22">Shady Records</a> imprint in 2000. He first appeared in a skit on <a href="spotify:artist:5Qi4Bb7a8C0a00NZcA77L0">D12</a>'s Devil's Night album ("Obie Trice [Intro]"; 2001), then with features on The Eminem Show ("Drips"; 2002) and the 8 Mile soundtrack ("Love Me," "Adrenaline Rush," and "Rap Name"; 2002), and finally released his own debut studio album, Cheers, in 2003. The album went platinum, and Trice wrapped up recording his follow-up by the end of 2005.

On New Year's Eve 2006, he was driving home from a Detroit club with his girlfriend when he was shot in the head. Remarkably, he was able to exit the freeway, and an ambulance took him to a hospital in Southfield. It was determined that removing the bullet would be too risky; Trice was released within hours of arriving at the hospital. Between that event and the shooting death of <a href="spotify:artist:5Qi4Bb7a8C0a00NZcA77L0">D12</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:1W7G3vXPeISR3Oi9ggVfyE">Proof</a>, a friend and one of the people who met him at the hospital, Trice was compelled to record new tracks for his long-finished album. Second Round's on Me was finally issued in August 2006. Two years later he left <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Shady%22">Shady</a>, feeling the label had failed to give him the proper promotional push but making it clear that <a href="spotify:artist:7dGJo4pcD2V6oG8kP0tJRR">Eminem</a> was not to blame and the two were still very close. Mixtapes and guest appearances would carry Trice until 2012 when Bottoms Up became his first release for his own <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Black+Market+Entertainment%22">Black Market Entertainment</a> label. <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a> produced the album's title track while <a href="spotify:artist:7dGJo4pcD2V6oG8kP0tJRR">Eminem</a> made two guest appearances, lending his vocals to "Richard" and producing the song "Going Nowhere." Fourth album The Hangover appeared three years later, complete with cameo appearances from <a href="spotify:artist:4pr7J7wzgObkE3DD3Izi7q">Young Buck</a>, J-Nutty, and others. His fifth album, appropriately titled The Fifth, arrived in 2019. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi