From Philly to Detroit: Guilty Simpson & Small Professor - "Highway Robbery" (Coalmine Records)

Guilty Simpson, one of Hip-Hop's most criminally under-rated rappers, has worked with everyone from the late great J Dilla to Geoff Barrow (Portishead), but has somehow only released one full-length solo record, Ode to The Ghetto (2008). Post-Ghetto, Simpson has worked with a brigade of Stones Throw affiliates including Madlib, Oh No, Quakers, Four Tet, MED, Roc "C," Percee P, Apollo Brown, and Philly-based producer Small Professor. Initially linking up for "Spare Razor" (2012), Guilty & Small had so much sonic chemistry that Matt Diamond at Coalmine Records/Diamond Media 360 signed the pair and eventually coaxed them to record a 10-track album, Highway Robbery. It's 7 tracks-worth (and 3 remixes) of relentlessly hard-hitting "Golden Era"-reminiscent Hip-Hop; including features from Statik Selektah, Boldy James, A.G. (Diggin' In The Crates Crew), DJ Revolution, Elucid, Castle, and a Scooby-crafted remix.


Small Professor recently stated in a Prefix interview that some animated Highway Robbery music videos are most likely in-the-works, but that he's never actually met Guilty Simpson and would "love to do some kind of live video, but Simpson is all over the place. He's always on tour!" Honestly, "It's Nuthin,'" "On The Run," and "Get That Pay" (Scooby Mix) are a few of my personal insta-favorite tracks that have quickly risen to the top of my Recently Played playlist... While Highway Robbery was just released this past Tuesday (Sept. 24th), it sounds like Guilty Simpson & Small Professor will soon find their rightful place amongst Boom-Bap CLASSICS like License to Ill and Raising Hell! Editor's Note: The track included above DOES NOT appear anywhere on Highway Robbery. "Fitta Happier" is actually Quakers & Guilty Simpson's aforementioned Radiohead-sampling track, which was just too dope not to include along with this post!