Guilty Simpson & Quakers Producer Katalyst Recruit Fat Ray for Rock-leaning DETROIT'S SON Stand-out, "Fractured" (Stones Throw x Drip)

"Worked with Guilty on Quakers through [Stones Throw]. Then we met when he was here in [Australia] on tour. Hung out with [him] and Phat Kat in the studio. Those guys were digging the new beats I had, and when Guilty went to LA to do the video for "Fitta Happier," he mentioned that we were vibing in the studio and he was into the beats and working together," Katalyst recently wrote within an emailed conversation. "We recorded "War Drums" while Phat Kat and Guilty were in town for that tour. Stones Throw thought it could be a great fit for his next album and hit us up and I was into it," Australian-based producer Ashley Anderson then continued, concerning his relationship with collaborator Guilty Simpson. Katalyst produced the entirety of Simpson's Psych-Rock-tinged DETROIT'S SON at Quakers band-mate and Portishead founder Geoff Barrow's local Invada Studios. Stones Throw unexpectedly dropped DETROIT'S SON to Drip.fm subscribers this past Wednesday, as Guilty had previously hinted, ahead of its world-wide September 11th release, although its currently available for pre-order in a variety of formats. It's Simpson's third album to be released on Stones Throw, following Ode to The Ghetto and Madlib-produced OJ Simpson, as well as assorted projects recorded with Black Milk and since passed emcee Sean Price as "Random Axe," Apollo Brown, Oh No, and Small Professor.

"Detroit's Son distills the essence of what made Ode to The Ghetto an underground classic. With the subject of life in the Motor City placed front and center, Guilty's uncompromising rhymes fit seamlessly with Katalyst's hard-hitting beats. The raps are every bit as gritty as on Ode or OJ, but there's also a little light relief on tracks such as "Smoking," probably about as close as Guilty will get to a summer anthem," Stones Throw wrote in a mini-press release accompanying DETROIT'S SON's sudden unveiling. "Fractured," which was preceded by non-album loosies "Vanguard Organization" and "Animal," almost harkens back to Link Wray & His Ray Men's formative guitar-centric 1958 Rock "N" Roll single, "Rumble" and even No Doubt's New-Wavey "Hella Good" drum break, neither of which I'm entirely sure Katalyst intentionally sampled. While I was busy working most of Wednesday day, I managed to upload DETROIT'S SON's 17 tracks onto a flash drive that very night and let me tell you: it hasn't left my car stereo for a mere second since! Guilty Simpson is a talneted hard-as-nails, yet surprisingly approachable, rapper and he sounds right at home over Katalyst's slightly off-kilter beats; I'm currently hard at work assembling a forthcoming beat-centric interview with Anderson himself, but until then, you're welcome to read, actively share, and thoroughly enjoy my recent all-inclusive interview with Mr. Bryon Simpson.