Obie Trice III was born and raised on the west side of Detroit, Michigan by his mother, along with three brothers. He is of African-American and distant European descent. Trice was given a karaoke machine by his mother when he was eleven and he used it to rhyme over instrumentals from artists such as N.W.A. By the age of fourteen, he was attending rap battle gatherings around Detroit.

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Trice’s debut album, Cheers, was released on September 9, 2003 with its first single “Got Some Teeth” being well received on radio in a number of countries. The single peaked at number fifty four on the Billboard Hot 100, and number eight in the United Kingdom in October 2003. He also released the singles “The Set Up” and “Don’t Come Down”. The album consists of 17 tracks with production from Eminem, Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Mike Elizondo, Emile, Fredwreck and Mr. Porter. Artists featured on Cheers include Busta Rhymes, Eminem, 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Dr. Dre, Nate Dogg, D12, Tony Yayo, and Timbaland. The album was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA. Trice also featured on the track Hennessey on Tupac Shakur’s posthumous album Loyal To The Game.

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In 2005, Trice began work on his second album, entitled Second Round’s on Me. The album was released on January 1, 2006. Following the release of Second Round’s on Me, he released a mixtape called Bar Shots with G-Unit’s DJ Whoo Kid.

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From humble beginnings and plucked from the state’s underground hip hop scene, the Detroit native became a worldwide rap superstar after his successes with EMINEM and Shady records. Today, OBIE remains strong in the game having established his own label ‘Black Market Entertainment’ releasing ‘Bottoms up’ and ‘The Hangover’.