Reclaiming the Dead
Astute heads will remember Dice Raw as the pugnacious wunderkind MC who debuted wrecking the mic onThe Roots' beatbox-propelled "The Lesson Part 1," from 1994'sDo You Want More?!!!??!. After appearing on all of the Illadelph crew's subsequent releases,Reclaiming the Deadis the manifestation of Dice Raw's purist ethos. An attempt to "bring it back to old-school rap," as the single "Thin Line (Between Raw & Jiggy)" forcefully expresses,Reclaiming the Deadproves an uneven ride. The beats, which oscillate between often tiresome roughneck territory ("Go Dice Raw") and the markedly better melodic dabblings of longtime Roots collaborator Scott Storch ("Forget What They Say") unfortunately fail to rouse significant innovation in Dice Raw's delivery. While his energy on the mic is unquestionable and occasionally triumphs ("Lockdown"), Dice Raw's technique, to his detriment, rarely changes up. While Raw gains kudos for his desire to show reverence for microphone fiends of the past, his own chops, on this showing, barely escape the mediocrity he so obviously abhors.--Del F. Cowie