As March 25th approaches, former DXnext artist Guilty Simpson [click here] has used his time wisely by promoting his debut album Ode To The Ghetto. Making a short stint in the UK, Guilty sat down with Pyro Radio to talk about his aspirations for Ode, as well as his relationship with J. Dilla and the restlessness of major labels.
When asked about the three tracks that reflect his direction on Ode To The Ghetto, Guilty stated “My Moment,” “I Must Love You,” and “The Real Me” as the favored ones saying, “those three are dope ’cause they give the standard Guilty Simpson fan a change of pace and see different sides of me, ’cause this is my first album and I think it is unfair people think I should be a certain way even though I’ve never had an album out before.”
This is also the same reason why he went to Stones Throw rather than a major label. Feeling vindicated, Guilty proclaims he once had a shot with Shady Records but didn’t feel he would have creative openness. “I was given some interest from Slim Shady, but it was important for me to make records my way. I’m not saying Shady wouldn’t let you make them your way but sometimes when you get caught up with a major label they want a certain style of music and they want it to be patented or cloned of what’s hot already; that’s not what I wanted to do.”
Ode To The Ghetto is highly influenced by the producers and sounds of Detroit and Guilty Simpson uses their presence as a backdrop for a more universal reach. One of them, the late legend J. Dilla, finds a humble home in Simpson‘s memory. Reminiscing about his first encounters with Dilla, Guilty says “by the time I met him I was still a fan and it was hard for me to remain a fan ’cause he was that humble. So he became a friend after that and I was still a fan, but friendship was first.”
Ode To The Ghetto will be released March 25th on Stones Throw Records. Check out HipHopDX‘s recent feature with Guilty [click here].
Reported by Edwin Ortiz.
