Detroit 2 Review
After my first listen to Detroit 2, I was texting one of my good friends about my initial thoughts on it, being that I love music, and it has a powerful message. He responded, “I’m glad hearing him rap like this. Sounds like he’s at a good place, and it shows in the music.” which I feel perfectly describes Big Sean’s mindset when he was creating this album.
It has been three years since Big Sean dropped an album, and this is the last one he will do under the GOOD Music label. As he sets out to start his record label, there has to be some pressure to leave the record label on a high note. Not to mention Detroit 2 is the sequel to one of his most successful mixtapes Detroit, that helped solidify his spot as one of the next best upcoming Emcees in the game.
With all that pressure on top of everything 2020 has put us through so far, Big Sean had a tall task of trying to give the world the best music of his career during a pandemic. And man, did this man deliver!
Detroit 2 is a rare album released at the perfect moment in time and created with a genuine purpose to leave its listeners inspired. Music is supposed to touch your soul so that it gives you something that you’re missing or needing.
That’s the energy Big Sean gives off in this album. It’s something everyone in 2020 should hear no matter if they are in the missing or needing category (possibly both depending on their situation).
The album is incredible, and when you listen to it, you might get something that your missing or need.
In multiple interviews that Big Sean gave in his press run for Detroit 2, you hear him talk about how his purpose in life is to inspire others, and you can see that all in his lyrics in this album. He rhymes to create a space where he can be vulnerable about his life accomplishments and acknowledge the lows, which made him question life?
For example, in the song “Deep Reverence,” Big Sean talks about battling anxiety and suicidal thoughts, among other things that weigh heavily on his spirit as setbacks keeping him from happily growing as a person. Then towards the end, you hear Sean speak about how he could connect to the dots through the battle with his demons to what he sees as his life’s purpose.
One of the deepest and darkest songs on the album but embodies so much thought-provoking energy that the whole album gives. Not to mention it features the legendary Nipsey Hussle, whose verse personally give chills because he’s such a prolific writer that contains not only excellent imagery skills but also a master storyteller.
The album isn’t full of dark moods; you have songs like “Time in” and “Body Language” that provide a little romance element to the album while giving us a Twenty88 reunion. Then you have songs like “ZTFO,” “The Baddest,” “Harder Than My Demons” and “Lucky Me” that brings high tempo energy to the album providing a nice balance to showcase the range of music on Detroit 2.
Much of that range that Big Sean has on this album is defiantly due to thirty plus producers on this project. With the most recognizable ones being super producers who have dozen of hits that dominated the past decades hot 20 charts and airwaves. Those Super producers, to name a few, are Mustard, No I.D, Mike WiLL Made-It, Teddy Walton, Boi-1da, and Key Wane.
Then on top of those super producers, Big Sean Executive produced his album with Kanye West and Hit-Boy. Detroit 2, in my opinion, has the best production of any album so far in 2020.
Features on this album are an excellent mix of artists from the mainstream hip-hop scene like Diddy, Travis Scott, and some of the hottest upcoming artists in Detroit like Sada Baby, Kash Doll, and Drego. He gives the listener the best of both worlds of getting collaborations with some of the most famous artists in the game while providing some artists from his own city time to shine on his album.
Friday Night Cypher demonstrates how Sean wasn’t only trying to help artists from his city get some more exposer but also blending veteran artists with new artists. The comprehensive feature list for the album is extensive. Still, the clear standouts for me were Jhené Aiko, Nipsey Hussle, Diddy, Wale, DOM KENNEDY, along with some vocal contributions from Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, and Justin Bieber.
I was delighted to see Big Sean kept the “Story by” tracks that were a significant element of the original Detroit tape. In my eyes, the “Story by” tracks were the perfect vocal break that added a storytelling aspect to the album that gave the guest artist a chance to tell an inspirational story about their experience.
This Detroit 2 gets a 10/10 because it left me inspired and ready to continue my journey of these wins and losses on this marathon we are all on-call life.
