Detroit 2, with a vengeance

 

Big Sean is only 32, but he already has his own day in his native city of Detroit — June 29th, in case you were wondering. And that is very much the icing on the cake here: in the past few years, the artist put out no less than 5 albums, on top of mix tapes and singles along the way. The last one being Detroit 2, in reference to his early Detroit mix tape, released a few weeks ago in this strange era that is Covid/Trump-tainted 2020. And the feeling that transpires from the LP very much mirrors the era…

It will not be news to his fans, but this latest batch of tracks sees Big Sean expressing a subtlety and depth, both in musical production and lyrics, that is objectively scarce in popular music these days. The rapper does not shy away from personal stories, about his city, about himself, about the hurdles one has to go through no matter how celebrated they are — or not. It is interesting to see how easily the man talks in interviews about his struggles with depression or self doubt over the years, in many ways the reason his creative output has been so rich and compelling down the line.

The tracks present on this album tell a pretty clear story: “Deep reverence”, which features the late great Nipsey Hussle in an almost prophetic tale about life’s shortcomings; “Harder than my demons” in which Big Sean opens up in a way very few artists would, rappers or otherwise; “Don Life” (featuring Lil Wayne) about what it is like to be a public figure in today’s world… And these songs are intertwined with spoken word segments from major stars in their own right (Dave Chappelle, Erikah Badu, the one and only Stevie Wonder…) telling life stories that add a layer of truth and authenticity to the painting that is being laid out here.

All in all, Detroit 2 is a remarkably dense, entertaining, well crafted collection of songs and words alike. Big Sean already mentioned that he wished the next time he met with Stevie Wonder, they would create music together. Whether or not this happens, we can already tell that Detroit 2 is a sequel — clearly not an ending…