Loss 4 Wordz follows The Embodiment of Instrumentation, Scratch's solo debut, by seven years. The intro excepted, each one of the tracks features a collaborator or two, and the album reaches way beyond the extended Roots/Okayplayers family showcased on Embodiment by calling upon several unexpected MCs and vocalists -- not so unexpected, perhaps, if you had been keeping up with Scratch's own featured appearances; many of the guests here are returning a favor. This being an album from a beatboxer, the MCs and vocalists are bound to play a more central role. As impressive and entertaining as it is to hear Scratch flex his versatile skills on such a stylistically scattered array of material -- including not just multiple flavors of rap and R&B but reggae, folk-soul, neo-Basement Jaxx dance-pop, an inspirational anthem led by Hillsong's Jonas Myrin, and a kind of torch song featuring Damon Albarn and Talib Kweli -- it's easy to forget whose album this is, and only a handful of the songs leave a lasting impression.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo