Philadelphia native Dice Raw was discovered in 1991. That’s a lot of years anywhere but in the rap game it’s like an eternity. Since the age of 12 or 13, Dice has been honing his craft and jumping from situation to situation trying to find the best home for his lyrical and soulful music.

He’s been signed to MCA. He’s dropped a major release and he’s been a major part in the movement of hip-hop legends The Roots. Now all grown up and a seasoned veteran, Dice Raw is still pushing and still pursuing his dreams.

Besides working on projects of his own, he’s also working on material with his group Nouveau Riche. If skills were the true measure of an MC’s wealth then Dice Raw would be paid.

Sixshot.com caught up with Dice Raw to discuss Philadelphia hip-hop, working with The Roots, and how the game is changing.

You’ve been in the game for a long time now. From an insider’s point of view, what are some of the changes you’ve seen in hip-hop?

Oh man, I’ve seen a lot of changes in the last few years man. We went from the bling-bling era to the era where motherfuckers are recording in their house. There’s no more big budgets so financially it’s been a nig change, you know what I’m sayin’? The exhaustion of budgets, record deals, and just the industry itself.

What happened with your group Nouveau Riche?

Actually right now we’re in the process of recording a new EP called Free Money. It should be out around June sometime I believe.

You’ve done a lot of work with the Roots. How did that relationship start?

I met The Roots through my man Kilo who discovered me at a local talent show in like 1991. Eventually, I actually crossed paths with them. I spit for them and we’ve been putting in work together ever since.

What is it like working with the Roots?

It was amazing man. When you work with them you never stop learning about hip-hop for real. It’s like a non-stop ride man, its just banoodles. (Laughs) Just being on tour with them especially at such a young age was crazy. It’s been like 10 or 15 years and it’s been a great run, pretty amazing.

The Roots have always been known in hip-hop as innovators. They’ve always been unique and a little ahead of their time. Do you feel that working with them at such a young age made you more advanced in terms of music?

Yeah of course and I don’t say that to toot my own horn. I had also worked with this group Playtime back when I was about 13 or 14 years old and I was out there living in Los Angeles by myself. I’m just that type of person, the type that’s been doing things from a real young age and maybe a little ahead of my time when it comes to certain things.

For you, is there a big difference between recording with The Roots as far as the instruments and just recording over a track?

Oh yeah, hell yeah. If you just have a track you can play with it in Pro Tools and make changes and stuff. With a live band it’s way more complicated and it’s way more of a process. The drums all have to be miked up a certain way. When it comes time to mix it it’s real complicated for the mixer as well. It can definitely be a lot of headaches working with live music. The reward is that you get that crazy original sound and people are really into the music.

You were signed to MCA when having a major deal was really the only way to go. What was your time over there like?

It was lovely man. I just wish I wasn’t forced to rush my album out. It was great man. I had a lot of money. Those were the good old days. At that time it really seemed like everybody in Philly had a record deal.

Is the hip-hop community in Philly close knit?

Hell yeah I mean the hip-hop scene in Philly right now I could count all the motherfuckers who are relevant on one hand. There’s Tuphace, Reef the Lost Cauze, and a few other cats. You got street rappers of course that make a lot of noise but they’re more commercial. The only street rapper that’s really relevant in Philadelphia that isn’t signed to a major label is Gillie Da Kid. Everybody else is not really relevant to me. There’s another duce named Rockbottom who’s pretty good too.

After the situation with MCA didn’t work out, what did you think the next step would be at the time?

After the MCA deal I didn’t really wanna put out records anymore and to be honest with you I wasn’t really that sure of myself anymore. I thought that I was the shit and then my record came out and it didn’t sell. It did what it did. I basically just started making a lot of songs and started offering them to other people. People would hear it and like the concepts. That would ask me if they could have it and I would just give it away.

But you’ve written and gotten paid for it as well right?

Oh yeah definitely but as far as hip-hop goes I don’t wanna betray my clients, you know what I’m sayin’? You could fuck somebody’s image up like that.

Of course, so do you write for non hip-hop acts?

Oh yeah absolutely. I do all kinds of shit. I write for people in a couple different genres.

Tell me man, as a veteran in the game, where do you think hip-hop is headed?

I think independent artists are in a great position to make money right now. The underground is really poppin' so I see it coming back here. Lupe is almost gold and has 40 million plays on Myspace. Talib and Mos are doing their thing. Even Styles P is leaning more towards the underground now and he’s outsold a lot of commercial artists like Rocko who’s on Def Jam and had a big buzz, million dollar videos, you see where I’m going with this right?

I see a comeback from the East Coast and a dirty South backlash. Not to say anything bad about the dirty South but they’ve had a headlock on the market for so long that people are ready for more than a party song with a dance when prices at the gas pump are ridiculous and the price of food is doubling. With all this going on are people really gonna want to talk about jewelry? It’s kind of irrelevant. You got a Rolex on but I don’t really give a shit what time it is.

You got a lot of fans out the Dice. Anything you’d like to say to them?

Yeah, I’m still alive. The main point is that I’m still alive. (Laughs)