Detroit State of Mind: Danny Brown & Clams Casino - "Worth It" vs. Guilty Simpson & Katalyst - "Animal" (Stones Throw/Adult Swim)

While tough-as-nails emcees Guilty Simpson & Danny Brown don't seemingly have much in common (aside from mutual collaborator Black Milk), the two like-minded lyrical wordsmiths are surprisingly cut from the same battle-worn "cloth." Simpson & Brown both just so happen to have unleashed newly-minted material yesterday, August 3rd: "Animal" produced by Quakers beatsmith Katalyst and "Worth It" produced by Lil B affiliate, Clams Casino, respectively. Late Monday afternoon, I curiously Tweeted @guiltysimpson, whom I recently had the opportunity to interview for this very site, inquiring if he and Mr. Brown had ever worked together; to which he quickly replied with a video still of Elzhi's "Fire" Remix featuring Black Milk, GUILTY SIMPSON, Fatt Father, DANNY BROWN, and Fat Ray. Lest we forget, Guilty & Danny additionally teamed up way back in 2010 on Quelle-produced Detroit State of Mind 4 mixtape cut, "Murder Game" [listen below]. Without a doubt, two of Detroit's finest home-grown emcees, Guilty Simpson & Danny Brown are quite arguably, amongst the most talented rappers in all of Underground Hip-Hop... but that's right about where the comparisons end.


Danny Brown's inaugural collaboration with New Jersey-based producer Clams Casino, "Worth It," is a "Nautilus"-sampling self-destructive track, which was commissioned as part of Adult Swim's annual summer singles series. It seems to be a one-off non-album track, although Brown is currently working on his "almost" finished Old follow-up, which "[he] took a break from it cause [he's] so ahead of schedule with it, knowing it ain't coming out no time soon." Guilty Simpson's Katalyst-produced "Animal," on the other hand, "puts racist cops in the cross-hairs, as the Detroit, Michigan native looks at recent events as an awakening to a long-time epidemic of law enforcement treating minorities like creatures during interactions." Simpson's soon forthcoming Stones Throw album, DETRIOT'S SON, which stems from his Quakers collaboration "Fitta Happier," will supposedly be released to the masses before the end of August. "Animal" was preceded by non-album track, "Vanguard Organization" and Guilty recently told me, "my album features Steve Spacek, Cysion, Elzhi, Phat Kat, and Fat Ray. I will definitely have visuals for quite a few songs on the album."