One For The Weekend: Guilty Simpson

Grab yourself a double LP copy of Guilty's new Detroit's Son album with a bonus cut on Stones Throw. 

Guilty Simpson has worked with hip-hop production luminaries from California, New York and the UK, but his roots run deep in his hometown of Detroit.

It was fellow Detroiter J Dilla who gave Guilty his first shot on “Strapped” from Jaylib’s Champion Sound (2003), and the Four Tet remix “As Serious as Your Life.” At Dilla’s request, Guilty joined the Stones Throw fold, releasing his debut solo album Ode To The Ghetto in 2008, which established him as one of the label's flagship artists.

Two years later, Guilty returned with producer Madlib for OJ Simpson (Stones Throw, 2010) which some dude at Pitchfork called “cohesive, focused, and flat-out fun… one of the best hip-hop records of the year.”

After a collaboration with the late Sean Price and producer Black Milk as Random Axe, and another with producer Apollo Brown, Guilty’s next appearance on Stones Throw was shorter but no less pivotal – a guest verse on “Fitta Happier” by the hip-hop production super-group Quakers put together by Portishead's Geoff "FuzzFace" Barrow with his pals Stuart "7Stu7" Matthews and hot-handed Aussie producer Ashley "Katalyst" Anderson. Time spent with Katalyst in Australia led to Guilty’s third album for Stones Throw.




Detroit’s Son distils the essence of what made Ode To The Ghetto an underground classic. With the subject of life in the Motor City placed front and center, Guilty’s hardcore rhymes fit seamlessly with Katalyst’s hard-hitting beats. The raps are every bit as gritty as on Ode or OJ, but Guilty also shows a lighter side with “Smoking,” probably about as close as Guilty will get to a summer anthem.
Detroit's Son finds the Detroit MC in top form, rapping over beats perfectly tailored to his rough 'n' rugged style of microphone rippin'. Don't sleep.