Rating: 4.5 stars

Obie Trice's long awaited second album is hotter than July.

It is rich of great lyrical skills and many influences. After introducing himself in Cheers, Obie opens the second chapter of his story. 24's is a club song in which Obie flows with confidence. Nice and various instrumentals are intelligently combined with ill beats and lyrics.

Obie Trice Ballad is definitely an interesting piece of work. Starting with a slow " Obie Trice- Obie Trice-Obie Trice " refrain in the background, the song slowly draws Obie's life story.

Obie reminds his listeners that he came from the bottom and will picture the harshness of hood life. Yes, young black men have it hard in the hood. Obie knows it. He's been there too.

Catchy beats, guitar sounds, keyboards in the background spice up the well written track.

Cry Now is a wonderfully well written song where realness triumphs against fakeness. You wanted to kill him? Cry Now, enemies. Obie hits you with his words and he does it with confidence. I particularly enjoyed the instrumentals. Trumpets in the background reinforce the struggling atmosphere of Obie's song.

Everywhere I Go is an intelligent 50 Cent-Obie collaboration that will make you fully appreciate both artists' talent.

You could barely stay indifferent in front of the instrumental/ vocal jewel called Ghetto in collaboration with Trey Songz. The song has a wonderful gospel/ soul flavor, the vocals are touching and bring this unique black music flavor where rhythm/instrumental/ lyrics and deep feelings meet.

The song introduces into black souls' pain in the ghetto. Obie will make you acknowledge how hard it is to live in the slums. The Detroit hood is the place where many bloody dramas and discrimination happen on a daily basis. Ghetto is truly one of the best songs from Obie's second album. I highly recommend it to all of you.

Also There They Go, that I first reviewed under the title D Town Boys is a great piece of work including Eminem and local Detroit talent Big Herk's collaborations.

Kill Me A Mutha is a track aimed at annoying people you can meet in the club. Violins, keyboards and rhythmic beats make the track enjoyable.

Obie's flow is enlightened in Lay Down. Soft violins contrast with Obie's offensiveness.

Mama featuring Trey Songz is dedicated to Obie's mom: Eleanor Trice. Only mothers can see their sons cry. Only mothers know the pain and their kid's personality. A few years ago, Obie exposed the beef that opposed him to his mom in Don't Come Down and how he had to experience the hard side of street life in Detroit. Eleanor eventually reconciled with her son and has all reasons to be proud of him.

Violent starts with some dark piano sounds and gunshots. Flutes mixed up with violins and rhythmic beats will make the listener feel the reality of the streets.

Snitch combines Akon and Obie's talents very well and exposes the problem of snitching that is so typical to the don'ts of the hood.

Globally, Obie Trice did some great lyrical work on his second album.

The only negative side of the CD are commercial tracks such as Jamaican Girl, They Wanna Know and All My Life. I didn't like them that much.

However, one needs to recognize the great effort Obie Trice has put into his second album. Obie Trice, real name, no gimmicks.

Copyright2006 by Isabelle Esling

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