Album of the Year #4: Big Sean - Detroit 2 - HipHop

Album of the Year #4: Big Sean - Detroit 2
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Album of the Year #4: Big Sean - Detroit 2

Posted: 24 Dec 2020 01:18 PM PST

Artist: Big Sean

Album: Detroit 2

LISTEN:

Youtube

Apple Music

Spotify

BACKGROUND:

If you're a hip-hop fan, you probably know who Sean Anderson (aka Big Sean) is. He has been a major player in the rap game since the early 2010s, making music under Kanye's wing on the GOOD Music label. Sean started to gain some buzz early on with his Finally Famous mixtapes. After being signed directly by Kanye West, a lot of eyes were on Sean to produce in a big way. Now, many things can be said about Big Sean and his music, but I think the best word to describe him is "polarizing". Many people enjoy his music, and many people find him frustrating at times to listen to. Sean has become infamous for having bars that are… questionable at times. While I admit, sometimes Sean has lines that make me react like Michael Scott when he found out Toby was back from Costa Rica, one thing that cannot be denied is Sean's ability to come back again and again with hit records.

Starting with his debut effort in 2011, Finally Famous) was an anticipated record from a young rapper who had shown potential as Kanye's protege. What we got was a pop-rap record through and through, with hits like "My Last", "Marvin & Chardonnay" and of course the infamous "Dance (A$$)".

In 2012, Sean dropped a mixtape entitled "Detroit)". It was quickly called the best work of his career by many. It had a ton of features, and was album where Sean once again displayed his technical ability, but also his ability to create easily enjoyable and catchy songs.

In 2013, Sean was back with "Hall of Fame)". Kanye publicly mentioned he wished he had more say on the songs that made it onto this sophomore effort, but the album did still provide some of the biggest songs of Sean's career, namely "Beware". This era is also significant because it provided the track "Control" which did not make Hall of Fame because of sample clearance. We all know about Control so I won't waste my time with it, but all I'll say is it further supports what I said before. For better or for worse, Sean seemed to often be in the middle of these big songs in the 2010s, whether you like him or not, he always seemed to get himself in the mix, even if in this case it was because he got obliterated by a guest (I personally think he held his own but that is neither here nor there). It is like they say, there is no such thing as bad press. Or if you ask Drake, there is no such ting as bad press.

That brings us to 2015, where Sean dropped his third album "Dark Sky Paradise". Dark Sky Paradise was a pivotal moment in the career of Sean. He showed he can continue to drop the fun bangers and hits that had defined his career to that point, but he also started to turn some heads with his technical ability on tracks like "Paradise" and "Outro". All in all, Dark Sky Paradise was a high point in Sean's career.

I Decided) (2017) was an interesting moment in Sean's career. A decent album, with some massive songs like "Bounce Back". And even though the album had some iffy moments (looking at you, mario kart bar on "Jump out the Window") this album is significant because Sean appeared to be approaching some deeper themes in his music. Meditation, energy, and purpose anchor this album, which was a poorly executed concept album about him trying to get his life right this time around, with his past life guiding him or something.

Then, Sean went ahead and dropped a collab tape with Metro Boomin). Despite a couple enjoyable tracks, this album went on to be somewhat forgettable, with a couple rough moments (That "So Good" track still visits me in my nightmares)

Finally, his career arrives at 2019, where it appeared Sean was gearing up to drop his next album, beginning his rollout with the drop of singles like "Overtime" and "Single Again". However, right when it seemed like he was ready to go, Sean seemingly disappeared. Which then brings us to 2020, where Sean announced Detroit 2 with a trailer in March. Once again, he disappeared. Many speculated he did not want to drop because of the pandemic, but then, seemingly out of nowhere, he showed up in late August to announce Detroit 2 was finally dropping September 4th.

REVIEW:

When pressing play on "Detroit 2", one thing becomes apparent almost immediately on the first track "Why Would I Stop?"… and that is Big Sean's hunger. This is a solid opener that sets the tone for the project. Sean sounds focused, his punchlines sharp, and as I said before, he sounds hungry as ever. Quickly, Sean cuts through the instrumental, staking his claim as one of the essential artists in this genre. Fittingly, on the opener of Detroit 2, Sean also makes sure the listeners know how important he is to his hometown… "hero in my hood, when they dress like me thats cosplay".

So Sean sets the stage with the intro, and keeps up the pressure with the next couple tracks "Lucky Me" and "Deep Reverence". Sean has A LOT to say on these tracks. Touching on his childhood, relationship issues, anxiety, and depression. He gets help from an elite feature from Nipsey Hussle (RIP) on the grammy nominated Deep Reverence. The album rolls out to a hot start.

"Guard Your Heart" is a track that I struggle to write about because I want to do it justice. I do not think there is anything I can say that can properly describe how good Anderson .Paak sounds on this one. I have been a fan of his since early 2016, and have heard him do some great things with his voice. Somehow, this is the smoothest he's ever sounded. Sean has a heartfelt verse about persevering through life and the verse is very timely coming out in 2020. Wale's guest verse might be the best moment on the song somehow, even with Paak's intro. He discusses some of the racial issues that arose from the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor killings from earlier this year. Wale deserves more respect, and he demands attention with this verse. The entire song feels like a group therapy session. It is beautiful and comforting, and easily a major highlight.

Aside from the songs being enjoyable, Sean establishes the central themes for this album right away. We are listening to a man questioning his own purpose. This could explain why this album was reportedly scrapped a reworked on multiple times the last couple of years. It could explain why it seemed Sean was gearing up to drop in 2019, but then promptly went radio silent. He was struggling. Sean sounds unsure of himself and what he is supposed to be doing on various moments on this album, and I actually really appreciate he was that transparent.

Even on songs like "Everything That's Missing" which is a highlight on the album (even though I am still pissed Dwele is a listed feature… got me excited for what amounted to some barely noticeable background vocals. But I digress). On this song, Sean takes you through his entire life journey. Going to LA, becoming famous, creating a blueprint for local artists from his hometown to follow. But the song is a bit haunting in a way, because Sean sounds so damn sad. This speaks to the internal struggle he seems to go through on this album. Sean has made it to levels of fame he probably never imagined for himself. Now, there is a sense of "what now?" for him. What is his purpose?

Why this album and its themes of perseverance, self-love and mental health awareness work so well is for the simple fact that other than a few moments, Sean does not preach at the listeners.

Yes, there are moments where he can make you roll your eyes (ex: "Most of the girls I know addicted to social media, all the time they put in, could've wrote encyclopedias)

However, those moments are rare on this album. Instead, the album is more a portrait of a man sharing his experiences, his battles and his triumphs against his demons. It is more of a reflection, not a lecture.

And that is why I feel Detroit 2 works so well. It is Sean wrestling with his own life's purpose, and what to do with himself as a man and a creator. He takes us on that journey. This especially rings true on two of the best songs on the album: "Full Circle" & "FEED".

Full Circle involves Sean discussing his career and how, (you guessed it) everything has seemed to come full circle for him. Aside from the track being an interesting look into his own career, it is without a doubt one of Sean's best performances on the album. I remember Joe Budden previewing this song on his podcast, and Joe said "I would cremate this beat". I don't know if it is a cremation, but Sean does a pretty damn good job killing this beat himself.

He is equally locked in on the track "Feed" and "The Baddest". These are songs where Sean really manages to showcase some of his technical ability. He is reflective once again on "Feed" touching on his career and his thoughts on his legacy, and on "The Baddest", Sean rides the godzilla sample pretty remarkably. Especially on the second verse, I'm not sure I have ever heard him rap better than he did on this song and on his verse on "Don Life". The hunger and the focus from him was on another level on some of these tracks on the back half.

On top of the deeper themes this album touches on throughout its run time, Sean also showcases he can still do what he has always been able to do… and that is make enjoyable pop-rap.

"Wolves" taps Post Malone for a banger that, like A$AP Ferg's "Plain Jane", nabs Juicy J's flow from "Slob on My Knob" for the hook. Which of course means… it is catchy. The hook works, with Sean and Post taking turns performing it, and both of them brought it with their verses. It is a fun moment on the record, and it rolls right into another fun moment, albeit a slightly hornier moment… the track "Body Language"

When I first heard this song, it made me a little uncomfortable how.. uhhh… honest Sean and Jhene were about their love life on this one. But it is another ear-worm type track, Ty Dolla (as always) comes through with a smooth ass refrain, and this song gets extra points because Sean never talks about dating his mom (seriously what the hell was that feature on Ty Dollas album?)

Two other highlights on this album are "ZTFO" and "Respect It". While I do not love Thugger's feature on Respect It, I feel like he kind of phoned it in a little bit, it ends up not mattering too much because Sean's performance is so great. The beat changes towards the end and Sean locks in… "I'm a walking bucket list" is one of my favorite flexes of the year for sure.

The lowest moments on Detroit 2, for me anyway, come from songs where Sean lost a handle on where his own music was going. What I mean by this, is there are a couple tracks where the song just kind of gets away from Sean, he winds up sounding like a feature on his own song. The obvious example of this is the Travis Scott song "Lithuania". When I heard the snippet of this on .wav radio a few months back, I thought it sounded insane. But what we got was a Travis song, and it isn't a bad Travis song by any means. There are aspects of this track that work well, the extra drums they inject into the beat when the chorus comes around a second time, the Big Sean verse on the back end of the track, and just Sean's bars in general on this song are pretty well done. But again, the song is a little too much Travis, his verse goes on way too long and by the time he starts singing the hook again you can't help but be like "okay where is this going?"

"Friday Night Cypher" is another song I have to mention because a lot of people were anticipating this the most because of the amount of names taking part in it. I thought it was… fine. The main thing I will say about this track, is that I personally took it out of my version of Detroit 2 on my phone. It is a cool song, there are a ton of good verses on it, but I like Detroit 2, obviously I do or else I wouldn't be writing this… and listening to Detroit 2 front to back is a lot better without this song there. FNC is an interesting track, but I prefer it as its own thing, not as an actual part of this album.

I want to end this review talking about one of the best outros of 2020, and the best outro of Big Sean's career without a doubt. "Still I Rise" is an astounding closer, and one of the biggest reasons why shocked me. Dom Kennedy killed this hook?! I was taken aback by it. When I got the tracklist to this album, I was like "why the hell is Dom Kennedy on the outro?" But he justifies his presence, his inspirational hook, with the triumphant trumpet centric instrumental behind him… it is great.

The best part about this song, is it feels earned. Sean laid out so many of his problems, his growth, his successes, his failures, his anxieties and his struggle with his own purpose. By the time we get to this closer, and hear this triumphant ending, it is the musical equivalent of watching someone cross a finish line for a marathon they had been training years for. You can't help but feel happy for Sean, but then instantly turn inward, as Sean talks to the listeners at the end of the track… "You gotta rise the fuck up. Show them who you are, man".

Detroit 2 is an album I love because of that relationship Sean establishes with his fans/listeners. He takes you on this journey of his growth as an artist and a man. He raps about his demons, and then stands up and conquers them. He then encourages all of us to do the same. As we head into 2021, I just wanna say to anyone reading this to keep your head up. We all are fighting our own battles. We just have to keep fighting. Detroit 2 is the story of Sean fighting through his demons, and trying to inspire others to do the same. And the album just happens to be fun, infectious and enjoyable along the way.

FAVORITE QUOTES:

"i'm a walking bucket list, product of my suffering"

"Success is a chain reaction, I'm the f*cking missing link"

"I'm devoted and hated/ I recoded the matrix/ I just loaded the bases/ and you know imma make a HIT"

"Full circle like listening to B.I.G, to growing up they calling you Big"

"Quit giving energy to ones that don't deserve you"

"And I'm walking out the crib, they asked me where I'm going, and I said I'm going on another ten year run"

QUESTIONS:

Was "Detroit 2" a worthy follow up to the first Detroit mixtape?
Is "Detroit 2" Big Sean's best work?
Do you like Sean tackling more personal themes in his music or prefer his poppier songs?
What were your favorite features on this album?
Who had the best verse on "Friday Night Cypher"

submitted by /u/TheVirtual_Boy
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[FRESH ALBUM] Playboi Carti – Whole Lotta Red

Posted: 24 Dec 2020 08:49 PM PST

Spotify | Apple Music | All Streaming Links

Tracklist:

Rockstar Made
Go2DaMoon (feat. Kanye West)
Stop Breathing
Beno!
JumpOutTheHouse
M3tamorphosis (feat. Kid Cudi)
Slay3r
No Sl33p
New Tank
Teen X (feat. Future)
Meh
Vamp Anthem
New N3on
Control
Punk Monk
On That Time
King Vamp
Place
Sky
Over
ILoveUIHateU
Die4Guy
Not Playing
F33l Lik3 Dyin

Apple Music description:

In the two years following the August 2018 announcement of Playboi Carti's Whole Lotta Red, you could have gauged any given Carti fan's investment in the project by which song leak they claimed to have liked the most. One the internet took to calling "Kid Cudi" had a unique sort of staying power. That song does not appear on Whole Lotta Red, but Kid Cudi himself does, on "M3tamorphosis". Of the project's 24 songs, Cudi is one of three featured guests, appearing alongside likewise stylistic innovators Kanye West and Future. And so goes the story of the project: Whole Lotta Red is likely pretty close to what fans were expecting, but better. The production—provided by names like Pi'erre Bourne, Art Dealer, F1lthy, Juberlee, Richie Souf, Maaly Raw and Wheezy—is consistently forward-thinking, toeing the line between 808-heavy post-trap rumble and the perpetually weird and increasingly popular avant-pop sound known as PC Music. There is less "baby voice" here than fans of Die Lit may have wanted, but the rapping (and singing) is some of Carti's most impassioned and sharpest. Fans hung up on those early leaks might do well to consider them accidental gifts, because when it was time to deliver the album, Carti made sure we got the best of him. He just needed us to be patient.

submitted by /u/frogaranaman
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[SHOTS FIRED] Lil Pump says "fuck Eminem" and Royce responds

Posted: 24 Dec 2020 03:40 PM PST

Lil Pump made a new story on Instagram saying "Fuck Eminem, you lame as hell, ain't nobody listening to your old ass you lame as fuck bitch"

Royce just responded on this post saying "I'll slap them glasses so far off his face, they'll land in a whole nother genre ... Not cuz I'm mad but just cuz I'm exhausted with all the tuff talk from all these harmless creatures ... Enjoy yourself. You actually make money off blatant misappropriation while not being really good at anything ..."

KXNG Crooked just tweeted "Imagine Eminem vs Lil Pump" and Paul responded with "I cannot" lmao

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJMSQFqJn2O/

submitted by /u/BotizYT
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[SHOTS FIRED] Iggy Azalea calls out Carti for not seeing son and her at WLR release party, but instead inviting woman he cheated with during Iggy's pregnancy

Posted: 24 Dec 2020 09:31 PM PST

issa evil world we live in

https://twitter.com/IGGYAZALEA/status/1342337960440524800?s=20

carti cheating on his wife during her pregnancy, not paying producers, and then releasing a trash album today. hate to see it

submitted by /u/dripg0d
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[FRESH] SZA - Good Days (Audio)

Posted: 24 Dec 2020 09:01 PM PST

submitted by /u/tacosandtamales
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