Album Review- Obie Trice- Bottoms Up

Obie Trice's first album was underrated by a lot of people. They felt he was a gimmick because of the lead single and this is a path I've talked about before when he dropped his second album, 'Second Round's On Me' where he tried to push too hard to show his 'harder' side in a sense. The feel was much less refined and though Obie still raps the same, it didn't feel as complete. Now Obie is back with his third album, and here is my review of Bottoms Up.



Obie starts off the album on the intro, "Bottoms Up" where he thanks his fans for following him slightly recounts some of his career trials and accomplishments and speaks generally about himself. Its a good start, he loses some of that steam with his rhyme scheme on "Going No Where" because his voice rises an octave as he flows during the first verse. Talking about how he is going to stay in the game is straight, not greatness but very solid and it shows his technical ability very well over a very vintage Shady sounding track. "Dear Lord" is more of Obie's tough talk, the old school rap hook sounds a bit clouded while he raps about leaving his enemies in caskets.



Obie throws the ladies something on "I pretend" with a decent song for the radio, sort of reminds me of something Maino might record. Ob slows his style down enough to get his point across without watering himself down. The first single is "Battle Cry" which features Adrian Reeza on the hook which serves as his theme song and chronicles how he is not a gimmick, can't be stopped, and is a real person and not a character. "Secrets" is about the life of those who are just trying to get it in and be 'boyfriend or girlfriend #2'. I could do without "Richard" which features Eminem, though I get the idea, they're both talking about how they are assholes but it isn't really compelling. Neither is "BME Up" which I don't get other than another chance for Obie to talk tough (BME stands for Black Market Entertainment by the way).



"Spill My Drink" is cool and Obie talks about people getting at him specifically for his lack of success recently on the mainstream stage in hip-hop. An attempt to be instrumental he throws in some bars about anyone keeping it moving in a positive direction and not letting naysayers bring you down. "Petty" has Mr. Trice, showing off his money with all of his Gucci and Louie clothing. "Spend the Day" is a good harder edged song for the ladies as he talks about a day with him, the chorus is done by Dre Skidne. "My Time" is a filler track but it has a nice track behind it and the verses aren't bad, nothing spectacular but one of the better songs some kind of way. "Ups and Downs" is about the people who claim to have your back that you cannot trust. The hook works, verses once again above average. " Hell Yeah" is another good funky track that overall is good, except for the fact he keeps throwing out his label name in every song at this point every four bars or so. "Crazy" ends the album and features MC Breed- I know wtf- and the beat is throwback west coast style and the song may be just slightly dated, for me it's a good feel. There is a bonus track- "Lebron On" where Obie is talking about getting his Lebron on...duh.

Obie is a solid rapper but I doubt he will ever be great and being on his own helps him by lowering expectations though he is limited in what he can do. He shows he can flow but at times keeping that style up tramples the beat and he doesn't have much variety though he does have more than a lot of guys in the game. Even the songs that I like I don't really have a reason to listen to again and again, so there is limited replay value. However, this is better than his last album and shows that he has something left although I have to wonder how he can really craft a new story or add to the one he covered ad nauseum on Cheers.

Rating: 2.5/5