In the rap world, popular rappers often bring their posses along for the ride, but these cronies who try the biz themselves often prove to be vastly inferior rip-offs of the artist everyone already knows. More promisingly, established artists sometimes praise up-and-comers in an interview, offer to produce their albums (see Jay-Z and his assistance with Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor) and even introduce artists to the world at large by featuring them on their album.

Guilty Simpson, an up-and-coming Detroit rapper, has benefited from all three modes of artist-to-artist promotion from producer extraordinare J Dilla. Another Detroit native, Dilla has featured Simpson on a number of his tracks and was set to produce Simpson’s debut for indie rap label Stone’s Throw before Dilla’s untimely death in 2006.

Simpson has certainly proven himself worthy of Dilla’s faith, tearing through his numerous guest spots with a memorable, streetwise combination of tough talk and pop culture allusions. His debut album, Ode to the Ghetto (March 25, Stone’s Throw) is a highly anticipated affair for hip-hop heads hoping for the next Biggie or Tupac.

Simpson has certainly shown flashes of promise in his budding solo career. Stray Bullets, mixed by DJ Rhettmatic, was a good showcase for Simpson’s trademark style, a series of gruff, thuggish boasts that never loses their sense of humor. Like fellow purported rap savior (and recipient of established-artist love) Xzibit, Simpson seizes attention with his deep, rough voice and keeps it with his exaggerated, savvy rhymes.

The album covers the expected topics, girls (“I Must Love You” and “She Won’t Stay at Home”), tough talk (“Robbery” and “Pigs”) and the streets of Detroit (“Ode to the Ghetto”). What surprises on first listen is that Simpson fails to bring the energy from his mixed tapes and guest appearances onto his album.

The songs on the album are modest in length, between two and three minutes. Despite these constraints, Simpson is unable to deliver solid hooks or even ear-grabbing verses on a consistent basis. He seems unable to craft a catchy song without Dilla’s steady guidance, or Rhettmatic’s skillful cutting and chopping, scratched Guilty’s best lines into slurred opuses of catchiness.

In terms of beats, the area one would expect the album to drag, Stone’s Throw has done a fine job of supplying Simpson with a suitable sonic background. Simpson also gets ample support from other Detroit area beat-smiths, including Mr. Porter, Black Milk, and Dilla’s pal Madlib.

The tracks that fare the best feature Simpson-approved guests, who give Simpson space to work up a killer verse of two without having to carry the entire song himself.

Simpson tears through his two sets of 16 bars on the spacey, operatic “The Future,” featuring MED, outshines Sean P and Black Milk with a crime-focused series of boasts on the posse cut “Run” and uses repetitive vocals as well in the slightly cheesy but ultimately heartfelt “Kinda Live.”

Despite the album’s inherent mediocrity, each time I went to turn it off, Simpson would tack on a few snarky blasts of his best stuff, full of rewindable lines and blustery swagger.

No one doubts that Simpson has the goods to deliver a winner; it’s his focus that’s in question. More work on his game as a writer, plus a quality editor, would allow Simpson to deliver the one-man masterpiece his fans hope for.