Dice Game (album)
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''Dice Game'' is a collaborative
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
-based producer
Apollo Brown Erik Vincent Stephens (born June 20, 1980), better known professionally as Apollo Brown, is an American record producer from Detroit, Michigan, United States. He is a member of the hip hop group Ugly Heroes (alongside Red Pill and Verbal Kent) an ...
and rapper
Guilty Simpson Byron Dwayne "Guilty" Simpson is an American rapper and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan whose recording career spans more than 20 years. He is signed to Stones Throw Records, and is known for being one of the late producer J Dilla's favorite r ...
. It was released online independently under hip hop label Mello Music Group on November 6, 2012 in digital format, and physical copies were made available on November 13, 2012. Recording sessions for ''Dice Game'' took place at LabCabInRoyalOak in
Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Royal Oak is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cens ...
by Tate McBroom. The album was mixed at The Disc by Magnetic, and was mastered at Studio A by Eric Morgeson in 2012. The record was entirely produced and
arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestratio ...
by Apollo Brown, and features
guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...
s from
Torae Torae Liston Carr (born March 18, 1983), known mononymously as Torae, is an American rapper from the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York. He has released a number of solo albums and collaborative works, and operates the independent recor ...
and
Planet Asia Jason Green (born October 24, 1976), better known as Planet Asia, is an American rapper from Fresno, California. He is prominent for being one half of the now reunited Hip Hop duo the Cali Agents and is currently a member of the groups Gold Cha ...
. The album was preceded by Apollo Brown & O.C.'s ''
Trophies A trophy is a tangible, decorative item used to remind of a specific achievement, serving as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most commonly awarded for sporting events, ranging from youth sports to professional level athletics. Add ...
'' (2012).


Critical reception

''Dice Game'' was met with critical acclaim from
music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...
s. Jake Paine of
HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...
gave the album a four out of five, saying: "Like its title and theme, ''Dice Game'' lives in the alley beside the club. It's for those in the know, and want an album that sounds great on the go.
Guilty Simpson Byron Dwayne "Guilty" Simpson is an American rapper and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan whose recording career spans more than 20 years. He is signed to Stones Throw Records, and is known for being one of the late producer J Dilla's favorite r ...
doesn't attempt any lyrical acrobatics, but rather pulls up a chair with a drink, and tells stories about his life, about his city and about the things he likes. It's simple, but it's highly effective. For the second time this year, Apollo Brown teams up with a veteran emcee associated with great production, and he thrives." Francisco McCurry of Potholes In My Blog gave the album a 4.5 out of five, saying: "''Dice Game'' is about describing rap as a life choice: an unforgiving game of chance that reaps powerful spiritual benefits and insights, but leaves one stressed and weary. Therefore, with Guilty and Apollo fully understanding their strengths as rapper and producer, the songs on the album have an empowered quality. Sure at times the album's tone seems to monotonously bleed from one song to the next and Guilty is not everybody's cup of tea stylistically or technically, but that doesn't derail the album’s forceful momentum." Regan Flynn of iHipHop gave the album a five out of five, saying: "Presence of the tambourine, flute, organ, violin, cello, piano, and throwback samples like the
Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...
' ' Let Your Hair Down' indicate this album is as underground as they come. They just don't make
hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...
like this much anymore, because most of today's artists follow a very specific and disappointing formula that is a complete departure from what hip-hop used to be – music for and from the heart of the street. After a hiatus a few years ago, Apollo decided to rededicate himself to producing music, and aspired to become a household name in the realm of hip-hop. I'm not sure if that dream will come true, but teaming up with Simpson, who 'wants to make the consumer care about the music again,' is definitely a win for them as well as us." Patrick Taylor of RapReviews gave the album an eight out of ten, saying: "
Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...
attempted to reinvent
gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, is a subgenre of rap music that conveys the culture, values, and experiences of urban gangs and street hustlers, frequently discussing unpleasant realities of the world in general th ...
on his excellent '' good kid, m.A.A.d. city''. This ain't that kind of album. Instead, Apollo Brown and Guilty Simpson refine and perfect gangsta rap on 'Dice Game'' There is a self-awareness and sense of consequences that is missing from an artist like
Chief Keef Keith Farrelle Cozart (born August 15, 1995), better known by his stage name Chief Keef, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago's South Side, he began his recording career as a teenager and initially garnered re ...
, and the beats show a craftmanship that you don't get from your average street rap mixtape. This is grown man gangsta music, beautifully executed."


Track listing


Personnel

Credits for ''Dice Game'' adapted from
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
, and the album liner notes. * Apollo Brown — primary artist, arranger, producer * Byron "Guilty Simpson" Simpson — primary artist, vocals * Torae "Torae" Carr — featured artist * Jason "Planet Asia" Green — featured artist * Magnetic — mixing * Tate McBroom — engineer * Eric Morgeson — mastering * Michael Tolle — executive producer


Charts


Release history

;Physical releases


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dice Game (album) 2012 collaborative albums Hip-hop albums by American artists Guilty Simpson albums Mello Music Group albums Albums produced by Apollo Brown