YRB Magazine

Hip-hop has always had space for collabo projects between producers and emcees. In fact, some of the best albums of the genre’s history were birthed in this way, with duos like Eric B. and Rakim, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and DJ Premier and Guru (as Gangstarr) giving way to some of the freshest stage-setting music to be released during rap’s short lifespan. The latest to try their hand at a full-length collabo LP is rapper Obie Trice and producer MoSS, the latter of which raided his personal vaults and unearthed a treasure chest filled with records the two had laid down back in the ’90s.

The resulting album is Special Reserve, Obie’s first album since parting ways with Shady Records and one of the first LPs where MoSS helms the entirety of the beats. Though the tracks were recorded almost a decade ago, the album bangs with a gritty intensity that thrives off the chemistry between the pair, with Obie spitting corner slang over MoSS’ gravely re-polished beats. Doing the promo rounds for the project, Obie and MoSS chopped it up with YRB to discuss how this project came to be and why it might not be the last you’ve heard from this dynamic duo.

YRB: First off, how did you two first link up?

Obie Trice: I've known MoSS even before he was known. My cousin went to college with him at Tiffin University in Ohio, and I used to get away and go there and just run the city and act wild and crazy. And MoSS had a bunch of crates and a beat machine. We used to just make it happen at his apartment. And then what came out of that was “Well-Known Asshole” and “Dope, Jobs, Homeless” and “You've Been Slain,” records like this where I got signed to Shady off of.

MoSS: The Special Reserve album we recorded between '97 and 2000.

YRB: Obie, you've got this liquor bottle on the cover of the album like with your first two joints. What made you decide to keep up with the whole alcohol theme?

Obie: I'm drinkin' now!

YRB: It's early right now for drinking, isn't it?

Obie: It's 2, 2:30.

YRB: I guess it's happy hour somewhere, that pretty much answers the question. So what's the vibe like when you work together? Does this all happen naturally? Or does one of you come with an idea first?

Obie: Well first of all, this album is from the late '90s, the lost album. This is something that MoSS had a lot of footage of me, and he regenerated those beats and made it relevant for today's hip-hop. So it's just one of those things where me and him, what we did back then was MoSS would play the beat and wherever I felt at the moment was what it was. And I would just vibe off of what I felt. That's just how it was. We just got that type of chemistry. Like I said before, it's this music that's what got me signed to Shady, so we always had that vibe. And it was going to happen eventually regardless, whether it was Eminem or somebody else, but at the same token, this is a lost tapes album. This is something that's been tucked away in the vaults for years, and MoSS came up with the bright idea to put it out December 15th.

YRB: What made you want to revive this project and release it to the public?

MoSS: We're both in the music industry, so I'm always looking to put out music and do things. My manager Dan Green called me and he had known about the Obie record for some time, and he asked me if I'd been playing around with it or doing anything with it, so I went downstairs and pulled out the tapes and I knew the music would always be relevant. I played with the music a bit and we gave Obie a call and that's when it happened. In my opinion, it's just really good music so to have it sitting here was just a matter of working it out with Obie so we could get it out to the public.

YRB: The album sounds really fresh, like it doesn't sound like it's from the late '90s at all. What kind of retooling did you do on the record to update it?

MoSS: Well we had it mixed over. I'd say some of the music, I had to remix the songs because of the fact that over the years, I sold that beat to another artist or I wasn't quite sure if the beat would fit right in today's market. Apart from that, a couple of the choruses I had to change as well for certain reasons, but apart from that, you're basically hearing what we were doing, man. Obie was always extremely dope, and I think for a lot of people, it comes as a surprise that this is from 10 years ago. But I think that's a lot of credit to Obie, that he could spit something 10 years ago and people could listen to it now and appreciate it. He's obviously done a lot since then as an emcee and he's shown you a lot of different sides of him that are all extremely dope, but I think it says a lot that someone can do something like that and I think a lot of people will pick up on it right away.

YRB: Looking back on this LP, what song to you guys is emblematic of the vibe of the whole album?

Obie: I like “I'm Hungry.” That's my shit.

MoSS: Yeah, I would say “I'm Hungry” or “I Am.” I think the record's really consistent, so I think if you hear those and like them, that's pretty much what you could expect from the record.

YRB: How long did it take to lay down during the sessions?

MoSS: One of the things I've always bragged about from that period was the fact that Obie used to knock out… Some of these songs were all done in one take, and we didn't do any punch-ins. He just did all three verses in one take, and we did a second chorus track in one take and that was it. So literally, some of these songs were recorded in about 20 to 30 minutes. It was probably, in my entire history of being in the studio and being in the industry, I've never quite seen anything like it. Because we lived in different cities, we recorded the album over a period of time because we weren't always together, so we might go a month or two without seeing one another and then getting up for a weekend and knocking out a bunch of music and then parting ways again and doing that over time.

YRB: Have you talked about doing another full-length collabo with one another?

Obie: I definitely want him on my new record, on Bottom's Up. We haven't discussed another full-length record together, but that definitely can happen. Right now, it's about Special Reserve and getting this out. I can see that happening in the future. Just bring some vodka and the good tree of choice and we'll make this happen. I definitely feel like that could happen.

YRB: What about Bottom's Up, Obie? It's been a long time coming. Is the album done?

Obie: Bottom's Up is done, and I don't really want to speak on it, none of the Shady situation until I do media for that record.

YRB: What about you, MoSS? What's in the works?

MoSS: I did a song on the AZ album that should be coming out very shortly, and I got a song on Joell Ortiz's album and I produced Eternia's record. I'm really proud of her record, so that's coming out early next year and we've got a couple of big guest features on that. And then we're doing my album as well, so that's probably the main stuff I'm doing at the moment.

Obie: And he's going to have an exclusive joint on Bottom's Up.

YRB: Anything else we should know from you two?

MoSS: This is something for hip-hop heads, really. Just putting that out there. If you like the singles, you'll like the album. Pick up the records and you won't be disappointed.

Obie: I think this is definitely something for hip-hop. It's a hip-hop record, and I will say that it's really hip-hop. It was recorded during my grimiest moment in life. I had a new seed, my daughter was here and I had to do something different than hustling in the street, and that's what I was smoking on. My appreciation for hip-hop is overwhelming, so I've always been a fan of hip-hop music, and this is definitely some hip-hop shit.