AHH posted an interview with Guilty Simpson earlier this week. My expectations on his upcoming album (tentatively titled The Verdict) are sky high because he’s been killing it on everything I’ve heard him on. He also gives a good interview.

AllHipHop.com: What do you think it takes in today’s environment to be a good artist?
Guilty Simpson: I think the main thing to be a good artist these days is to put the music first. That is one of the main things that I try to do. A lot of times people try to reach and they do certain songs because they feel like they need to do a club song, they might feel like they need to do a song for the ladies. But I feel that there is nothing wrong with trying those topics and wanting to do certain things but I think being true to yourself is the most important thing; as a lot of people are trying to do what was successful for the last man and in a sense the creativity of the music is dying because there is so many people reaching just to get the easy check. You know if one guys come out with a certain dance then another guy might come out and think ‘well now I have to do a single with a dance’ and it is virtually taking away from the culture. They might reap the benefits financially but where does the responsibility to the music come in. That is the main thing. I came up in the era where whoever came out, even if they were different, it was cool to have a Will Smith in the game along with Kool G Rap, along with a Big Daddy Kane, it was ok to be different. But now people want to be a rapper from a certain region with the exact same image as another rapper that is successful from another region. I think they are trying to be successful in one vein in a sense. It is not really giving the music any room to grow, so I think that is like the biggest thing. Fall in love with making music now, don’t fall in love with cashing a check fall in love with the creative element of a good song, lyrics. Be coming up with the next shit as I think that is very important to let the game grow and be ok with being different to a certain people. I am a rapper and I don’t sell crack and I am comfortable with that. You don’t have to be a drug dealing rapper. People need to focus on what works for them and what elements they need to bring to the game and go in and do your thing that way. The old school Hip-Hop values, well one of them was like breaking a commandment. I think we need to take it back to the creative levels, stay creative and just stay true to you.