Interview: Guilty Simpson and Uncommon Nasa on their new album, “Escalation”

Following a couple one-off collaborations, Detroit emcee Guilty Simpson and Uncommon Nasa have finally joined forces for their long-awaited collaborative effort, Escalation. Out tomorrow via Nasa’s own Uncommon Records, Matt Horowitz recently spoke to both of them about the new album. Check out the conversation below, which has been lightly edited for clarity.

How long have you two known/known of each other?

Guilty Simpson: It’s been a couple years now. Since I started working on the Guilt EP with Man Bites Dog Records.

Uncommon Nasa: Yeah, during that time, I was, also, recording for Man Bites Dog Records and we had Guilty get on “Compass” from Written at Night and, then, later “Sunrise” turned up on Uncommon Nasa & Kount Fif’s City As School. After two collabs and one that I produced, I wanted to make a full album happen. So, it’s been since at least 2017.

Have you ever met each other in-person? If so, would you mind describing the circumstances behind your first face-to-face meeting?

GS: Never met in person. We communicate through phone, social media, or email.

UN: Not in person yet, but I’m glad to say that I think myself and Guilty come from a similar place musically, so we were able to really connect through the music. I felt an instant familiarity working with him, musically and personally. With some artists, it might have been a blockage to not be in the same place, but it was easy for us, I think. It’s how most music gets made these days, even with other artists that I’ve known longer and that I have met in person.

What made you guys decide to join forces to collaborate on Escalation?

GS: During the process of knowing each other, we collaborated on a few tracks, so we had a working situation going on already.

UN: For me, it seemed like it could be a natural fit. Especially after those Man Bites Dog Records tracks we did. I’d been a fan for years, so I had an idea in my head of how it would sound and I wanted to make that a reality. So, I reached out and now, we have Escalation as that collaboration.

How was working together on Escalation different from each or your past releases? What elements or qualities would you say you brought out of each other that makes this specific release unique?

GS: I liked how left-field the tracks were. They aren’t the standard “Guilty Simpson-type beats” I’m used to hearing, so it challenged me to do something different.

UN: I wanted to make beats for Guilty that would fit his voice, flow, and style—but that still sounded like I made them for the people that were familiar with each of us. I wanted it to be a true collaboration, one that fits into each of our catalogs and makes perfect sense and I think we got there.

How would you say your collaborations on Escalation have grown, progressed, evolved, and changed since your last collaboration?

GS: Just more advanced with the sound. I feel that track paved the way for us to understand it could work.

UN: I think that showed the potential that got this all started. We were able to go much deeper than one collab on Escalation and stretched out those vibes on a full-length. Guilty had the space to flesh out a theme across 12 tracks of my beats and that was really ill to be a part of.

Who or what would you both readily cite as some of your greatest sources of personal inspiration and influence while collectively creating Escalation?

GS: My inspiration never changes: J Dilla and Sean Price. Those are the people that made the biggest impact on me during my musical journey, so they’ll forever be my inspiration.

UN: When I reached out to Guilty to put this album together, I was focused on his mic work and what we could create together, but once this became a reality it, sunk in that Guilty had worked with J Dilla, Madlib, Apollo Brown, Gensu Dean, Black Milk, Katalyst, and the list goes on and on. That was a lofty list of producers to try and keep up with, so that was an inspiration for me. I had to literally stop listening to Guilty’s music during the making-of this album to ensure that I stayed focused on what I could contribute; keeping his past work as an influence in my head, but not a direct influence on my ears, if that makes sense. His catalog is stacked and I’m proud to be a small part of that now. So, that all really
inspired me.

Who would each of you choose to enlist for a hypothetical companion remix album for Escalation and why for each selection?

GS: Roc [Marciano] would be dope. His style is imitated so much these days, I’d like to work more with the original. I hear so many well-respected rappers these days taking the shortcut and copying him with these drum-less albums, it’s gotten corny.

UN: I have to agree with that statement and reiterate that Escalation HAS drums on it! There are a variety of approaches I took with the beats on Escalation, not everything is boom and pound kicks and snares (although, there are some like that), but it all has percussion to it. I think that’s what Roc, and, also, KA, bring to those quote-unquote drum-less productions that are hard to replicate. Those guys can flip stuff where a solitary conga or a bassline serves as the “percussive” element to drive the beat and they are some of the most talented emcees out there, so it all works perfectly. So, yeah, it’d be awesome to hear Roc’s version of some of these tracks or if KA remixed them, that’d be ill because I don’t remember him remixing anything before.

Who designed the album artwork and packaging for Escalation? What kind of vibe were you or the artist going for with this sort of theme and layout?

GS: Somebody from Nasa’s side did it and I think it’s fire!! Really dope and I wanna thank them for their contribution.

UN: Big shout-out to DJ Jazzpants on that. He worked from some photos of us, but created 100% original artwork from scratch. The vintage comic look and feel to it was all him. The vinyl has extra images, similar to the cover, on a full-color inner-sleeve and the CD shows them inside the digipak. Really appreciate his work on this one.

What do each of you have planned next either in support of Escalation and/or your own forthcoming separate solo efforts?

GS: I’m working on a gang of stuff. I wanna push this record and, also, line it up for my future projects coming. I have some special things happening and in my element. Me and two amazing emcees are working on an album that’s game changing!

UN: Same here. Trying to get this album to as many ears as possible is my mission. I, also, have a few more albums I’m in the middle of producing; the first one that you’ll see and hear in early 2024 is from Pastense (Guilty’s on that album for a track, as well, actually,) but I always have my hands in something
production wise and Uncommon Records has a lot of releases lining up, as well.