Since his departure from Shady Records back in 2008, Detroit lyricist Obie Trice has been relatively quiet until now.

Finally returning to the forefront since the release of his sophomore album, Second Round’s On Me back in 2006, he heads right back into the dive bar state of mind with Special Reserve.

Taking the old school approach by going with one producer only, Obie Trice puts his trust in the hands of Canadian-born beatsmith MoSS, (who happens to be signed to DJ Premier’s Works Of Mart Entertainment imprint).

What that said, Obie [Trice] lets everyone know that “The D” is in the building with the introductory track of ‘Welcome,’ where he matches the angry track’s intensity with his lyricism.

From there, he uses the scratch-heavy ‘Got Hungry,’ the drum roll-influenced descriptive tale of ‘You Got Slain,’ the piano-driven ‘On & On,’ and ‘I Am’ to show listeners that he hasn’t suffered from any studio rust.

Obie Trice and MoSS continue to throw out shot glasses with an impressive showing on ‘Roughnecks’ (feat. Deuce Wonder), both lyrically and production-wise, the unique production of ‘What You Want’ and the explanation for self service in ‘Jack My D*ck.’

By using the ‘one producer’ method, Special Reserve displays a level of consistency pertaining to a single sound, as opposed to the project having the feel of it veering all over the place.

Obie Trice and MoSS’ Special Reserve is just another example of how keeping it simple can sometimes be a lot better than the alternative; while MoSS furthers his resume, and Obie Trice gears up for his next release in Bottom’s Up in the process.

Previous Albums:

“Second Round’s On Me”