Inner city Detroit can bring a lot of trouble into a young man's life, but it also has a legacy of music that can be a redeeming force. That somewhat sums up Guilty Simpson's experience in Motown. Both his father and grandfather were musicians, but Simpson only saw his father's musical musings as lame compared with his passion for sports as a youth. Simpson started his life in Detroit but lived all over the country during his childhood when he and his mother lived with an aunt who was in the military. He eventually ended up back in Detroit as a teen, where he found many problems. A positive force in Simpson's life has always been his mother, Terry Jackson, from whom Simpson also gets his sense of humor.

His late teens and early 20s were spent soaking up and participating in the violence around him. After seeing what the lifestyle had done to his friends who had either been killed or were in prison, he started to pursue a rap career instead. He started making acquaintances with more well-known artists in the Detroit hip-hop scene like J Dilla. It was through Dilla that Simpson found his first taste of success when Dilla featured him on his track "Strapped" in 2003. Other artist soon wanted Simpson to appear with them.

Simpson released his debut album in 2008 with Ode to the Ghetto. The album featured some rap regulars like tracks calling out the corruption of police officers, but also showed that Simpson goes deeper with his music than most artists. He doesn't shy away from the realities of living in the ghetto, but also sees hope in situations and believes in hard work as a means to success. Fans appreciate Simpson's hard work to make it in a cut-throat industry like hip-hop.