It seems as though all the nursery rhymes and sing-songy flow that once belonged to Detroit rapper Big Sean are a thing of the past. On Wednesday September 5th, Sean dropped his fourth mixtape entitled Detroit. A tribute tape to the city that raised him, the tape was released for fans despite Sean’s commitment to Cruel Summer and his own upcoming album. Detroit includes features from other known rappers such as J. Cole, Juicy J, Kendrick Lamar, and French Montana and even some vocals from R&B singers Jhene Aiko and Chris Brown. Something to download and listen to in anticipation for Sean’s sophomore album, Detroit can definitely be argued as the rapper’s best mixtape overall.

Despite the similarities between Drake’s flow and Big Sean’s flow on track “Higher“, the finally famous rapper sets the tone for the rest of the tape in the first song. The tape then continues into a variety of subject matter, from his own life, to his own success separated by interludes of story-telling about Detroit from rappers Common, Young Jeezy and Snoop Lion. One thing that does continue to stay high and consistent throughout Detroit is the production quality of each song. Big Sean calls upon producers such as Hitboy, Lex and keY Wane to create some of the best beats Sean has ever rapped on. Although the beats are all of a well-crafted and melodic caliber, the beats of producers keY Wane and Mano 4 Treated Crew stick out the most. An old school sample with just the right amount of horns in it, “How It Feel” smoothly combines with Big Sean’s flow and Mano 4 Treated Crew’s production to create one of the best songs on the tape. keY Wane, a Detroit producer who has also worked with Meek Mill, Chevy Woods and Tyga, respectively produces multiple harmonious beats on the tape such as “Higher”, “24K of Gold“, and the collaboration with Jhene Aiko, “I’m Gonna Be.”

While preparing to release his mixtape to the public, Big Sean took to Twitter to also discuss his upcoming album saying:

“It’s everything I want it to be n more. A true representation of what I stand for, what I believe in, how I live, great story telling, n great production. I took my time with it and it made all the difference.”

Although Sean’s untitled sophomore album has no release date at the moment, you can still hear new Big Sean verses on Cruel Summer, the G.O.O.D. Music LP that is set for release on September 18th.

Author: Ms. Zilla