DON'T MISS TODAY:

Back to Artist Profiles

8/14/2006 What's up? I'm good, man. I've been good. It's always good when you have the opportunity to put out another album. It's been almost three years since Cheers dropped. Why did it take so long for this album? It was more a political thing and the politics of the game. There were some personal things I was going through that I had to handle. That was mainly it. How do you feel about the way Second Round's On Me came out? I think it's a good look. It's a great album. It's good for hip-hop right now. I don't think anything out there sounds like it. I think it's a good look for music. Your single "Cry Now" is a lot different from every other single on the radio. Why did you go with "Cry Now" as a single? "Cry Now" is just a street single I wanted to put out after the incident that happened to me on New Year's Eve. I felt like I wanted to express something and put out a visual at the same time. There was a lot going on in that video. What message did you want to give people with it? I just was angry. Being shot at home made me kind of upset. I just wanted to let them know that I'm still here and I'm still doing my thing. That was my main message. Did your fans or the media expect you to fall back after getting shot? I don't know what people expect me to do. I know what I feel like doing and that's to continue doing my music and blessing my fans with great music all the time. Your album sounds really dark. How did you get so good at creating those moods? The music takes me wherever I go. It depends on the track and the feel of the music. That's where I go with it. That's how it's always been for me. The vibe that I get from a track is where I usually go. Did you want this album to be moody? It really didn't just happen like that. There's different emotions on this album. It's just what I felt at the moment when I was recording. It's just what I felt at the time I was recording. Were most of the tracks recorded before or after the shooting? Most of them were recorded before the shooting. Three tracks were recorded after the shooting. "Wake Up" is the intro track. That was recorded after Proof passed. "Violent" was recorded after I was shot. On the intro to "D-Town Boyz" with Eminem and Big Herk you said, "We're the Detroit killers." Did you want to change that after Proof got shot and is that distasteful? I was also shot. I was less than an inch from dying. This is something that goes on in life. This is not something you can just overlook. This is what happens in urban communities. What was your inspiration for "Ballad of Obie"? I was just trying to go in on that. Marshall threw on a beat and I was in the studio with him and I told him to keep that beat on and I went in the booth and just went off the top. That's what came out of it. I heard you wanted Eminem to have less of an influence on this album than Cheers. Why is that? This album, I kind of put it together myself. I would do the vocals in my house and bring it to Eminem. He was doing his own thing and I would never want to seem like a burden on anyone. He has a lot of things he needs to do and I didn't want to wait for him to come around and wait for the label to open my budget. I just wanted to knock it out. How did it change not having Eminem heavily involved? He was never over my shoulder on Cheers. He was never telling me what to write then . He was really just showing me the way since it was my first time. This time I just went in and did my own thing. What do you want Second Round's On Me to show that Cheers didn't? This album right here just shows a lot of growth as an artist and a person. It's a different sound and a different album. Cheers went platinum. Can Second Round's On Me do the same? Cheers did 1.6. I think this record is capable of going further than that. With piracy the way it is today, it's really coming to the point where nobody's buying records anymore. As long as my music's out there and people are really getting to hear Obie Trice's music and ride to and feel Obie Trice's music then I'm good. Are the doctors going to operate on the bullet still lodged in your skull or is it safer to leave it in? The doctors said I'll be able to take it out once the skull heals. It takes awhile for the skull to really heal right. Once that goes good then I'll be taking it out. I'm going to take it out and put some ice on it and make it a medallion or something. Did getting shot change the way you move and where you go? Yeah, especially with me not knowing the individuals who did it. I move real quietly and I'm real observant of my surroundings today. Did you think you were dying? There were all types of thoughts going through my head. I thought I was going to die. I knew I was still conscious. I didn't know how it was going to turn out. It was a real crazy moment. I'm definitely more than thankful for how it turned out. Did your music change after the shooting? No. I approach music the same. Nothing really changed except for the way I move around the city. What's the best thing you're going to remember about Proof? Proof was a real intelligent guy and real creative. He was a funny dude. He was a real dude. He was dope. He was a wonderful human being. He will be missed and we're going to keep his memory alive. You've stayed with the bar theme for two albums now. What's the best bar in the D? That would have to be Roosevelt's. It's like a bar and a grill. They have darts, billiards and it's real chill. If you're buying a round for everybody, what are you buying? Whatever they want! This is the first baseball season in a long time that you can wear a Detroit Tigers hat with pride. Yeah. That's a good thing. I'm not too much of a baseball fan but Detroit needs something positive right now. Are you getting ready for football season? Yeah. I'm getting ready for football season. I was talking to Eddie Gorman the other day on the Lions and he was talking about how they were getting in shape. I hope they do thier thing this season. They've had a rough last couple years. What are your plans from here on out to make sure Second Round's On Me is successful? I just have to promote it. What do you want to say to everybody? Go cop the album Second Round's On Me on August 15. I know I'm going to go cop it and you should go cop it. I'm going to cop a few myself. And I also want to say Rest in Peace to the homie Big Proof.

By Brian Kayser

[32] REACT TO THIS INTERVIEW