Before anybody knew Obie Trice they knew his
name. Eminem set it up perfectly on the intro to his smash single, "Without
Me," allowing the Detroit rapper to open the song proclaiming "Obie
Trice, real name, no gimmicks."
Obie Trice has patiently waited for the limelight,
putting in work and building a name for himself without the help of a major
label album. Now Trice is ready to steal some radiance for himself and hold
hip-hop’s collective attention the same way Eminem and 50 Cent have captivated
the masses.
AllHipHop.com: Were you born and raised in Detroit?
Obie Trice: Yeah I grew up on the Westside of
Detroit.
AllHipHop.com: When did you start getting into
the rap game?
O: I was about 11 when my mother brought me this
karaoke machine and I was really into it back then, but about 4 or 5 years ago
is when I started printing up my own music, going to the studio and doing my
own thing.
AllHipHop.com: How old are you now?
O: I’m 25
AllHipHop.com: Were you involved in the battle
scene back then?
O: Not really, I used to go to the Hip Hop shop
and spit my sh*t but I wasn’t battling.
AllHipHop.com: What was your rap based upon?
O: I can be tough. I don’t limit myself to one
particular topic, b*tches, the streets, homies, family and all that.
AllHipHop.com: I heard a kid from 7 Mile and
then there’s 8 Mile, what’s all that about I didn’t know they had a 7 Mile until
I heard him?
O: 7 Mile is like an Ave. Back in the days it
was poppin’ in the summer time. We are the motor city so you would jump in your
car, ride down 7 Mile and f*ck with the b*tches. Ride down and when you get
to one end turn around and come back. A lot of motherf*ckers got killed on 7
Mile, a lot of sh*t go on, on 7 Mile It’s like an Ave. where everybody be at.
AllHipHop.com: What’s Detroit all about, I was
only there for a day and that was my first time so I really didn’t get to catch
the full vibe of it?
O: Detroit is small as hell. It’s a lot of talent
as far as emcees, a lot of beautiful women here and it’s the car capitol.
AllHipHop.com: Was the video of yours a single
or did y’all just put it out there to get it poppin’ a little bit, I only seen
it once?
O: Yeah that was just a little buzz video. It
wasn’t a single or nothing to my album it was just a little buzz video.
AllHipHop.com: Your name have been poppin’ since
the video with Eminem where you did the intro. How have you been able to handle
that ’cause that was a real big introduction to the game before you had a song
or video out?
O: I just handled it. It wasn’t really anything
that was hard for me to do; I just do it I don’t think about it. I just do what
I’m here for and that’s to make that music.
AllHipHop.com: Do people recognize you and approach
you in the streets?
O: Yeah they approach me in the streets and it’s
all good, it’s love the D holds me down.
AllHipHop.com: How did you first meet up with
Eminem?
Obie Trice: I had put out a single independently
through No Air Play (NAP) Ent. Bizarre from D12 heard the sh*t and hooked up
with me. I did a song with Bizarre. I sat down and kicked it with them and Bizarre
called me one day like I’m with Em come spit for Em. I got in the Regal and
shot up there and spit for him. He was in a rush, so I spit from the passenger
window. He took my CD and was like I got to go. Next thing I know they was in
a truck in London and they was playing Em’s song,. This was when the Marshall
Mathers LP was out and after they played the song my man played my sh*t.
They came home, I had dinner with Paul Rosenberg (Manager and President of Shady
Records) and we just hooked up with Em and it was smiles and handshakes from
then on.
AllHipHop.com: Have you guys become friends?
O: Yeah that’s my man, we got a real good relationship.
At the time I wasn’t really familiar with Caucasians and he got me up out of
that ’cause they regular people just like everybody else. That’s my n*gga now.
AllHipHop.com: You kind of have an instant fan
base somewhat because of your association with him. Do you have any plans to
alter your flavor or how you come out to please those people?
O: I’m just going to do me; I’m not trying to
do the Eminem thing, the D12 thing or the 50 thing. I’m going to give Obie Trice
and that’s all I can do, I can’t be another motherf*cker, they just going to
love it or hate it that’s how it is.
AllHipHop.com: So there’s no pressure on you?
O: No pressure at all. The pressure to me is
waiting to get out there. I seen 4 albums get made. Devil’s Knight, the
Eminem Show, 8 Mile and 50’s sh*t. I’m ready. That’s the most
part of it; I’m ready to go.
AllHipHop.com: Is that Obie Trice your real name?
O: Yeah.
AllHipHop.com: Is there a meaning behind it?
O: Nah, no meaning or nothing, that’s just my
name.
AllHipHop.com: Who are some of the people that
influence your style?
O: I would say old school cats like Redman and
Wu-tang. My style is my style, those are just cats that I liked. Red definitely,
he really got me to want to be an emcee. Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie. I like
some of those dudes over at Roc-A-Fella, I like a lot of sh*t.
AllHipHop.com: Do you plan to work with any other
artist outside of your camp or mainly inside the Shady Records crew?
O: I’ll probably stay with Shady. I don’t know
about these dudes out here, motherf*ckers are funny style. I seen Benzino in
Puerto Rico, he give me a play and I go holla at him like good looking on the
Source sh*t and he like who are you? ‘I’m Obie Trice.’ He’s like ‘I got you
homie don’t even worry about that sh*t.’ I fly home I get a call from New York
that Benzino is on the radio dissin’ me. Motherf*ckers aint real, it’s only
a few motherf*ckers and I feel like Shady is where it’s at. I’m not even trying
to meet or kick it with none of these motherf*ckers. If the paper is right I
might do it. As far as getting cool with motherf*ckers, I don’t need to know
these cats.
AllHipHop.com: Do you think you’ll be working
with 50 Cent or the rest of the G-Unit in the future or your album?
O: Yeah they are on the album and in the future
we definitely going to do some sh*t.
AllHipHop.com: Would 50 be considered family
at this point?
O: Yeah we all cool; everybody got an understanding
of each other. 50 definitely brought a raw street aspect to the label.
AllHipHop.com: Does that make you shy away from
the game There’s a lot of beef going on in rap right now. What’s your take on
the beef, it’s getting real heated. I just heard Ja call out Em, 50, Dre, Lil’Mo,
Truth Hurts he basically called out everybody. Does that ever concern you?
O: The thing about JA Rule is that whatever he
did to 50 f*cked his career up. Whatever happened with him and 50 shouldn’t
have happened and from him putting down 50 back in the day when 50 tried to
give him a handshake, however he played 50, JA Rule’s name is f*cked up. Now
as far as him f*cking with my man Em, he saying in magazines that whoever signed
50 Cent, I don’t give a f*ck if it’s Shady or Dre, I got to shut that sh*t down.
You can’t say sh*t like that, you feeling your self a little too hard. ‘Cause
you sell a couple of records don’t mean you the sh*t out here. It’s always a
motherf*cker that can knock you down, you just can’t be out here like that.
That’s my gripe with dude, I was feeling him when he was in his prime running
through the red lights, even some of that singing sh*t. I found myself sitting
at the radio singing with him. I just feel like dude needs to find his place.
Who the f*ck are you? You can’t be one way and keep jumping the gun. You either
like this or you like that. You Murder Inc. but you singing R&B joints.
I’m feeding my daughter over here at Shady. These motherf*ckers looked out for
me, this is who I roll with no matter what. Whoever my man’s got it with, I
got it with.
AllHipHop.com: You being a new artist I’m sure
you would want to have more coverage in the Source. Now I’m hearing they’re
not doing too much with Shady Records and vice versa.
O: I’m like damn my turn gets here and then all
this confusion start going on. I can’t drop my sh*t and let mother*ckers live
with my album without all this bullsh*t. I respected the Source at one point
but what can you do? These my people and I have to roll with the punches.
AllHipHop.com: I saw an article where you said
you were planning to retire by the age of 30, do you still feel that way?
O: I want to be through with this sh*t by 30,
in another 5 or 6 years I’m trying to be through.
AllHipHop.com: How come?
O: I just don’t want to be rapping forever. I
love it, but sometimes you got goals for yourself.
AllHipHop.com: What are you trying to do after
you retire?
O: I want to get off with the screenwriting.
I don’t want to be an actor or nothing but if I have to, I’ll act if it’s the
right thing. I really want to get off into the writing movies and sh*t. Getting
it poppin’ like that, I think that’s the sh*t.
AllHipHop.com: Do you like to write in general,
not even on the music just in general?
O: I have a lot of good ideas about sh*t. I
don’t actually sit down and write, but I just have a lot of different ideas
about films and making movies. I would love to get with somebody who knows the
fundamentals of making the movie, then get my money up and start getting into
that.
AllHipHop.com: What kind of movies are you interested
in?
O: I don’t want to do just some hood sh*t. I
want to take it to another level, like make a movie about a young black lawyers
life or something like that. Whatever that’s not the norm.
AllHipHop.com: As far as the album what can people
expect?
O: I hit ’em with everything. My album called
Cheers. A lot of my n*ggas are dead and didn’t make it to 25. I call
the album "Cheers," ’cause I’m one of the n*ggas that made it out
of my neighborhood. I just want to take them through the hood, talk about some
b*tches. It’s going to be a fun album, you going to find out who Obie Trice
is.
AllHipHop.com: Do you have any viewpoints on
the war?
O: I’m sitting here looking at CNN as we speak.
I think it’s some bullsh*t. I feel like Bush could have sent an elite team over
there and went to kill my man. He didn’t have to put all those people and their
families out there like that. He’s on his way to Camp David for the weekend
and motherf*ckers are over there getting killed. I think it’s some bullsh*t
and these motherf*ckers are going to come f*ck with us over here in the U.S.
AllHipHop.com: You got any opinions on the federal
probes of rappers? We heard they are getting B rated rappers to snitch on the
bigger name rappers. Did hear about that?
O: I think that’s f*cked up ’cause this is way
out the hood. I think n*ggas should stop mentioning a lot of sh*t they don’t
need to be mentioning in music. It’s a lot of sh*t with that, I’m hearing it’s
a lot of snitching going on and a whole lot of different sh*t. I just feel it’s
f*cked up ’cause this is the only way for a n*gga to get out of the hood. 9
times out of 10 n*ggas selling dope in the hood come up on something and start
a record label.
You got start somewhere.
AllHipHop.com: A lot of times white people have
that old money and we don’t have that old money.
O: We got to make money, we got to provide for
our sh*t, we got the new big faces, we don’t have them old faces.
AllHipHop.com: That’s crazy, their money are
generations old a lot of the times.
O: Motherf*ckers be Jews and all types of sh*t,
that old money. n*ggas got to start from scratch hit the lottery, or slang a
brick. Hire n*ggas from the street and hopefully it’ll take off. I think it’s
kind of f*cked up that they investigating n*ggas labels, we all from the hood
and they just trying to find another way to shut hip-hop down.
AllHipHop.com: You said you had a daughter?
O: Yeah I got a little girl.
AllHipHop.com: How old is she?
O: She’s 4 years old.
AllHipHop.com: Is she aware of your success?
O: Yeah she’s aware of it; she knows what time
it is. I was with her the other day. She’s always around in the studio. I’ll
say I’m about to go to the studio with Em and she’ll say ‘I don’t want to go
I’ll see him on T.V.’ It really didn’t hit her yet, she has to get a little
older and start having sociable friends and associating with people outside
of her family and when they see that last name.
