The follow up to Guilty Simpson's 2008 debut Ode to the Ghetto has been highly anticipated by myself ever since various tracks and leftovers started popping up. The Madlib produced album has finally arrived and while it may have Guilty Simpson's name on the cover, after the first two introductions (!) it is quite evident that this album should have been credited to Madlib featuring Guilty Simpson... and unfortunately in this case it is far from a good thing.

Of the 24 tracks half of them contain some seemingly random sample of a stand-up routine (Richard Pryor) or faux news show slapped on top of an otherwise good Madlib instrumental. The only purpose of these seems to be to break up Guilty Simpson's raps into some disjoint and unfocused mess. To make matters worse the skits also appear during the last 20 seconds on some of the tracks which actually feature Guilty Simpson. Luckily amongst all of the skit surfing there are some tracks worth sticking around for. Simpson's tribute to his mentor J Dilla "Cali Hills" would be my pick for the album's best track. It provides an insight into the two artists friendship and professional relationship, this proves to be more interesting that the more common "You were the best there was and ever will be" type tributes. The guest spots from Frank and Strong Arm Steady also provide some much needed variety (or album sanity) to an otherwise skit based release.

Sometimes an erratically paced and eccentric album works, but for no-nonsense-straight-to-business artists like Guilty Simpson it is awkward and frustrating. The bottom line is that when you buy a Guilty Simpson album you don't expect him to be playing second fiddle to Madlib's skits.

Track Listing

1.  Prelude

2.  Introduction

3.  O.J. Simpson

4.  Pimp Rap Interlude

5.  New Heights

6.  Karma of a Kingpin

7.  Think Twice Interlude

8.  Coroner's Music

9.  A Friend's Help Interlude

10.  Back On The Road Again

11.  Gone Crazy Interlude

12.  Hood Sentence

13.  Preacher's Wife Interlude

14.  Cali Hills

15.  Something Bad (Intermission One)

16.  Something Good (Intermission Two)

17.  Scratch Warning feat. Frank

18.  Hold Your Applause Interlude

19.  Outside feat. Strong Arm Steady

20.  Bow Wow Interlude

21.  Mic Check 313

22.  Trendsetters

23.  100 Styles

24.  Outro