Obie Trice proud to be standing on his own two feet

By: Gary Graff

Obie Trice's latest album, Second Round's On Me, debuted at Number Eight on the Billboard 200 albums chart last week after selling 74,000 copies. The mark was a significant drop off from the rapper's 2003 debut Cheers, which sold 250,000 copies its first week out.

While the sales may be a little slow, Trice can find solace in the fact that he was able to complete his sophomore set with minimal help from Eminem on the creative side. The rapper explained: "You know, I kind of put the album together myself, too. So, you know, I brought it to Eminem's attention later on and he just mixed and mastered the album. You know, I took some of his, you know, a lot of his beats but kinda did it on my own. I was up underneath him like I was on Cheers."

The rapper added: "You want to always stay busy, stay working, you know what I'm sayin'? Not just when you're in the studio with Eminem. You know he's already established. You want to really just want to continue to stay on the grind and stay doing what you got to do. And show him like, 'Hey damn, you know, I don't really have to guide Obie. He can do his own thing and get it done.'"

The first single from the new album is "Snitch" and the set features guest appearances by Eminem, Trick Trick, Akon, 50 Cent, Nate Dogg, and Trey Songz, with the production of Alchemist, Fredwreck, JR Rotem, Eminem, and 9th Wonder.