“Do not attempt to adjust your speakers/The sounds that you are about to hear are various sounds that come from a human’s mouth.” --“Start’n from Scratch”

Mimicking a turntablist’s vinyl manipulations with his mouth, Kyle “Scratch” Jones insists, is more than a gimmick. “Before, everybody just heard somebody crackling with the teeth and the flips of the lips and [they’re] thinking ‘alright, that’s beatboxing.’ Like when you see a commercial and somebody’s doing a rhyme and the beatbox is playing the sidekick. My stuff is the forefront, where you gotta rock with me, instead of me trying to rock with you.”

Only four tracks on his solo debut The Embodiment of Instrumentation (Ropeadope/ Atlantic) -- to be released this Tuesday -- actually utilize instruments. Scratch blazes his own beatbox trails to create almost an entire album from his own vocal cords. Known for his speaker-shaking solos at Roots shows, the man with the tricky lips unleashes a medley of mouth music that fuses hip-hop classics with today's radio-friendly head-nodders.

Inspired by Doug E. Fresh, Buffy of The Fat Boys and Police Academy's Michael Winslow, Scratch has been revolutionizing the "beatbox" since he was a wee tyke playing with Tonka trucks. "I did everything, open mics, talent shows, house parties, block parties, spring flings -- every chance I had to grab a mic, I grabbed it."

Years of hard work later -- during which he met The Roots at a talent show at the Urban Education Center -- Scratch lounges comfortably at the helm of his newly furnished home studio, already working on tracks for his next release. Over the years, he's worked with a myriad of artists: De La Soul, Musiq, Pink, Zap Mama, Jay-Z and David Byrne while flexing his mouth-stylings in corporate commercials for the likes of Nike, Sprite and Coca-Cola.

The Embodiment of Instrumentation sports a lengthy guest list, with predominately Philly talent: M.A.R.S. Co-op, Rich Medina, Schoolz of Thought, Dice Raw, Floetry, Malik B., Black Thought, Bilal, Flo Brown, E.S.T. (3X Dope). On "That's What We Talkin' About," the horn-backed, conga-driven Philly anthem, Calenté and Dice Raw ride the beat while E.S.T. proves he can still rock the mic lovely. On "Sumthin' That U Missin'" -- another track with instrumental supplements, co-produced by 88 Keys -- Brick City lily Flo Brown leaves her cipher mates Spon, Ciph Born and D-Ruck unable to catch up.

On "3 Barstoolz Away," Scratch lays down a fly bass line as Rich Medina's sultry voice flows poetically. The Roots fam tears up the opening track, "U Know the Rulez," as Black Thought, Malik B. and M.A.R.S. Co-op trade verses, with Malik taking the forefront. And then there's the hidden track, "What Happ'n," with Brit duo Floetry, and Malik's all-too-brief solo-scorcher, "Exhibit One." Embodiment's drawbacks can be counted on one hand: the skits are too many and Jill Scott's appearance is just a snippet of what it should be.

Before and after touring as the headliner with "The Live From The 215" tour with Dice Raw and Schoolz of Thought, Scratch laid down track after late-night track with his sole engineer, Frank Sutton. Of late, hip-hop production has been dominated by MIDI machines and repetitive looping, something Scratch has no use for. "I'm sitting here grabbing a microphone to make the beat, not grabbing a beat machine, some records, a record player, sampling or nothing like that."

True to Roots form, the disc is innovative, experimental and organic. Genre-hopping, from straight hip-hop to reggae, soul and a touch of jazz -- Scratch's vocal production often rings hypnotic and psychedelic. "Now, after you hear the record you're not going to look at me the same way when you go to a Roots show like ŒOh, that's Scratch, he's getting ready to do his wicky-wickys.'" Beatboxing, he says, will finally be understood and respected as an art form.

With no video or radio promotion planned, the label is marketing the record to the underground -- combined with creative giveaways, The Roots' non-stop touring and support from Okayplayer.com. Despite the lack of an official single, the record's garnered favorable reviews in magazine heavyweights like Billboard, FHM, The Source and Vibe. "I got a lot of support from everyone that was involved with the record, it's been a good thing to lean back on, to have that cushion. My group is giving me 100 percent support." Pondering the release, Scratch quips, "I'm looking forward to June 4th, I'll even buy some copies."

Scratch and special guests will perform at his album release party at The Remedy on Mon., June 3, 10 p.m-2a.m., $7, Fluid, 613 S. Fourth St., 215-629-0565.

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