Obie Trice

Detroit is a proud city and an even prouder hip-hop city. As a general rule of thumb, the greater the plight of a people and their environs, the more amazing their art will be; one need look no further than our ugly neighbor to the east to see some hard-ass times. While kings have been recently disqualified either by retirement/lackluster cameos (Eminem), or by untimely death (RIP Proof and Dilla), you could do a lot worse than to elect Obie Trice as supreme representer of the D. As an artist who saw the spotlight with the help of the angriest white boy in rap, Trice has enjoyed an amazing level of creative consistency among his Shady peers, releasing two quality LPs after numerous indie releases made him a local favorite. And how much realer can you get: Dude's been shot and uses his government name on the mic. Bottom's Up, indeed. 18+.
Thu., Nov. 15, 10 p.m., 2007