You can't mention Guilty Simpson without thinking of Detroit. The gruff rapper embodies the city's resilient spirit and, much like fellow lyricists Redman and Black Thought, he shouts out his hometown of "the D" every chance he gets. So while his new album, Detroit's Son, is an ode to the Motor City, it's also a chest-thumping salute to himself and a reminder of what he still hopes to accomplish. Because despite a robust discography, Guilty sounds unsatisfied on his new album, still pushing for a breakthrough.
Detroit's Son follows last year's Simpson Tape EP, produced entirely by California composer Oh No, whose stampeding drum breaks worked well for Guilty's menacing flows. Guilty is more straight-laced than his contemporaries: He relies on monotone real talk that, when paired with the right blend of cinematic soul, resembles 4,5,6 era Kool G Rap without the suit-and-tie crime bravado. His style is distinctly blue-collar, correlating with his hometown's hardworking ethos. At his best, he stands apart as a low-key yeoman with a penchant for street narratives.
Yet for all the work he's done in his career—his debut Ode to the Ghetto, 2010's O.J. Simpson produced by Madlib, 2011's Random Axe project with Black Milk and Sean Price, and 2012's Dice Game with producer Apollo Brown—Guilty is only as good as the beats he receives. His bars tend to recede into the music and there's no 'wow' factor with his approach. Instead, he becomes an accessory; you find yourself more interested in the instrumentals than what he's actually saying. There's no denying Guilty's intense work ethic, but 12 years after his debut on Jaylib song "Strapped", he still doesn't sound fully comfortable as a lyricist.
D**etroit's Son was produced entirely by Katalyst, an Australian member of the Quakers collective, and his patchwork funk sets a frenetic pace. The music resembles Madlib and Paul White in a way: It sorta plods along without much structure, and the kaleidoscopic sound feels influenced by the likes of George Clinton and Sun Ra. For Detroit's Son, Katalyst applies a dark sheen that reflects Guilty's home city's gritty reputation. The layered, slow-moving "The D" stands out, and "Dirty Glove" features an excellent verse from fellow Detroit rapper Phat Kat, and the driving rhythm conveys civic despair.
But like the album's other featured rappers, Kat outshines Guilty, simply because he's more energetic and lyrically nimble. On "Blue Collar", Guilty sounds stilted alongside Elzhi, whose complex wordplay fits more naturally with Katalyst's spacey composition. As it plays, Detroit's Son feels like a collection of songs relying too heavily on well-worn themes ("Blunts in the Air", "Smoking", "Money"). Quick tracks like "Ghetto", "The Music", and "Beautiful Death" seem out of place and disrupt Detroit's sequencing. "Power Outage"—a salacious sex romp—brings the album to an awkward and abrupt ending. The album feels a bit hastily assembled and packaged, a widget in a long line of solid, dependable products. Detroit's Son is another line on Guilty's ever-growing resume, not a highlight.
