While I enjoyed the newest Obie Trice CD, I expected more than I got.

After his debut album, “Cheers,” went platinum I thought “Second Rounds on Me” was going to be triple platinum for sure. But after nearly falling asleep to his slowed-down beats and entrancing flow, I just don’t see this album going as far as it could have.

Now Obie did step up and put more of himself in this album than the first, by keeping the artist featured on the album to a minimum.

But he had to because of the amount of criticism he received for having Eminem put his stamp all over the first CD. Not only did Eminem create most of the beats on the first album, some said that the only reason “Cheers” sold as many as it did is because the tracks Eminem was featured on were so good.

Then you come to this new CD, and of course Eminem helped on a lot of the beats, but Obie put his own twist on things. The beats on the first CD could have been the background to anyone, but “Second Rounds on Me” was tailored for Obie Trice’s specific flow.

However, these downfalls aren’t going to keep me from listening to this CD. It is still a good album. It just isn’t good for Obie Trice. When compared to most of the music that makes it to the radio Obie is still where it’s at. But compared to what I’ve heard from Obie before, this CD just doesn’t raise the bar as high as it could have.

And in all honesty, I will buy Obie’s next CD the moment it comes out because tracks like “Snitch” and “Ballad of Obie Trice” keep me listening. I’m hoping maybe he just hit that sophomore rut that so many artists have fallen victim to themselves and he’ll pull himself out for his third release.