Guilty Simpson - Ode To The Ghetto Review

Guilty Simpson is definitely no stranger in the game. Since concreting his name in the Detroit underground circuit, Guilty Simpson has worked with the late J Dilla, Slum Village, Black Milk, Percee P and most recently Bishop Lamont.

Five years since his debut on the Jaylib (J Dilla and Madlib) album “Champion Sounds”, Guilty Simpson finally releases his first full-length album, Ode to the Ghetto. The album features production from Madlib, Mr Porter (Of D12), Oh No, Black Milk, DJ Babu and the great Jay Dee.

The album starts with the Madlib produced, ‘The American Dream’. A solid introduction explaining the struggle in the ghetto where every ones American Dream is becoming a drug dealer. The song sets the tone for the album perfectly. The second track, ‘Robbery’, is a perfect example of what Mr Porter can do. We’ve seen some poor beats from him in the past, but this is definitely a sign that he hasn’t fallen off. A hard-ass track about stealing to get by in the ghetto, Guilty tears the beat apart.

The next song ‘She Won't Stay At Home’ is one of few downfalls of the album. The Madlib beat contains an annoying sample throughout the verses and an even worse sample on the hook. Guilty does his best to bring the track up as much as possible.

The next song ‘Footwork’ is one of the highlights of the album. An amazing beat by producer Oh No (also Madlibs younger brother). Guilty Simpson just rides the beat like there is no tomorrow. Flawless flow, flawless production, a great display of his lyrical ability. The title song ‘Ode to the Ghetto’ also features production from Oh No. The production sounds very similar to Footwork. But again, he rips the beat and his lyrics are on-point as usual.

Going back to what I said about Mr Porters inconsistency, ‘Getting Bitches’ is a perfect example. The beat is weak, the hook is poor but the verses still meet with the expectations.

‘I Must Love You’ kicks straight in with a very distinctive beat by the legendary, Dilla. An amazing song, Guilty Simpsons style compliments the almost perfect beat. ‘The Future’ and ‘Pigs’ both contain good beats by Madlib, but neither of them have anything that stands out about them.

‘My Moment’ is the first of three songs produced by Black Milk. The beat is everything you think of, when you think Detroit Underground. Guilty Simpson proves that he could tear any beat placed in-front of him. He also pays homage to J Dilla and Big Proof of D12. ‘Run’ is the second Black Milk production. The song features Black Milk on the hook and Brooklyn rapper, Sean Price. A perfect collaboration and one of the best songs on the album.

‘Kinda Live’ has a smooth, laid-back feel. A nice beat from Mr Porter, two dope verses from Guilty. Another solid song. The next song, ‘Yikes’ has a vintage Madlib beat, same old Guilty. I’ve got nothing negative to say about the song. ‘The Real Me’ could quite possibly be one of my favourites on the album. Black Milk laced the beat, Guilty tore up his verses – his flow was spot on, as always. The penultimate song, ‘Kill ‘Em’, has fantastic production by Dilated Peoples, DJ Babu. Guilty Simpson does his thing again, and rips the beat. The final song ‘Almighty Dreadnaughtz’ was another disappointment. The beat is very poor, but everyone does their thing on the verses.

Overall, this is an amazing debut from Guilty. The concept of the album gets tiring after a while, but his flow and lyrics compensate for that. I’d recommend this album to anyone who likes real Hip Hop.

Production: 8/10
Content: 8/10
Overall 8/10

(Review written by T_S @ PurelyHipHop.Blogspot.com)