Guilty Simpson is a Detroit hip hop staple, an emcee with over two decades of experience under his belt. Along the way, he’s worked with everyone from J Dilla and Madlib to Eric Lau, Small Professor, and Black Milk, just to name a few. Most recently, he worked with producer Gensu Dean to release the album EGO, which came out last year. Now he’s back with a new project, Guilt.

For Guilt, Simpson was looking to switch things up a bit, so he reached out to producers Kount Fif, Dub Sonata, Maitre D, Bronze Nazareth and Jason Rose. Together, they helped Simpson with a soundscape that leans further in this midtempo hip hop/R&B direction than he’s ever gone before. It’s not too weird or unexpected of a move, and it won’t take you long to adjust your ears. At the same time, though, this is not the hardcore underground hip hop that you’re used to hearing out of Guilty Simpson. It’s smooth, it’s soulful, and there is a lot of room to push Simpson’s vocals to forefront. Simpson has a great voice with a nice low resonance to it, which pairs nicely with the production, and his clear and direct delivery just re-emphasizes how the whole project rests on his lyricism. The good news is that Simpson is a veteran emcee who was looking to do something new and get more vulnerable with this project, and he delivers on all counts. There’s not necessarily any one moment that’s wildly different from the rest of his catalogue, it’s more of a collective recognition of an emcee and a person just getting wiser and more comfortable in their skin as they go on. Simpson can still cut any wannabe emcee down to size, but he’s also got more room to talk about his life, his philosophy, and do a little story telling as well. When you put everything together, you get a solid project from a veteran emcee with absolutely no filler.

Guilt is the type of project you want to see from a veteran artist like Guilty Simpson. It shows some growth and pushes him out of his comfort zone a little, but it also just gives him room to lay down some dope rhymes and push his lyricism to the forefront.