“Ain't no way to keep a band together. Bands come and go. You gotta keep on playing, no matter with who ”. With these words, the second solo album of beatboxer Scratch opens, who was a member of hip-hop band The Roots from the year 1998 to 2003. The intro speaks plainly, but one might wonder what was the reason for his departure. For Loss 4 Wordz, Scratch has enlisted the help of Musiq Soulchild,
… Daniel Bedingfield, Kanye West and Talib Kweli, among others. The record kicks off promising with breakneck beats accompanied by the beatboxer, but as the album progresses a number of things stand out. For example, Daniel Bedingfield may have been approached because Justin Timberlake has thanked for it and considering the song, we shouldn't have blamed JT, if that had been the case. There is also a large gap between commercial and non-commercial, which means that it is not clear who is really trying to reach Scratch. Let's Go, Tonite, Ready To Go and Too Late belong to the stronger tracks, but there is absolutely no question of a strong album. (GL)more