Big Sean shares release date for new album 'Detroit 2,' drops single featuring late Nipsey Hussle
Five months after confirming a hometown-themed fifth album, rapper Big Sean announced Monday that "Detroit 2" will land Sept. 4, releasing a new single Tuesday featuring the late Nipsey Hussle.
The Def Jam/Good Music album is a sequel of sorts to the 2012 mixtape "Detroit," and will arrive nearly eight years to the day after that record's release.
The Detroit star, born Sean Michael Leonard Anderson, posted several images from a studio Sunday evening, declaring that he was "finally done recording" the new album and was on to mixing.
"Detroit 2" will be Big Sean's first solo full-length since 2017's "I Decided," his third platinum-seller since breaking out in 2011 with "Finally Famous."
Few other details about the forthcoming album were disclosed Monday, though Big Sean did unveil a line of "Detroit 2"-themed merchandise at his online store — including a branded face mask.
The day after announcing the album release date, the rapper dropped the long-awaited album news along with his new single, titled "Deep Reverence."
In the song, Big Sean shares he reached out to Kendrick Lamar after Hussle, whose real name was Ermias Asghedom, was shot to death March 31, 2019 at age 33. Sean and Lamar had a rumored history of feuding with each other, though Sean said in an interview with Joe Budden earlier this year that the two shared a "mutual respect."
"It wasn't even no real issues there to begin with / Lack of communication and wrong information / From people fueled by their ego, it's like mixin' flames with diesel," he raps in the new song.
On March 25, Big Sean used the occasion of his 32nd birthday March 25 to drop the long-awaited news that his fifth full-length the album is was on the way.
"Detroit 2" was announced in a video trailer featuring the rapper, other Motor City figures and a variety of local sites, from neighborhoods to Hitsville, U.S.A.
"To me, it's home," Big Sean says in the trailer. "But I feel like it's more than just a city. It's for real a mentality."
He adds: "I've been going back and listening to music that impacted me growing up — songs I'd hear on the radio every day but I didn't even realize was only popping in Detroit."
Big Sean also saluted what he calls "a whole new energy in the city":
"It's inspiring to watch, to the point that it's inspired me to go harder than ever. It's like the phoenix rising out of the ashes."
Contributing: Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Big Sean shares Nipsey Hussle duet, release date for album 'Detroit 2'