Big Sean delivered his collaboration with Nipsey Hustle “Deep Reverence” on Monday (Aug. 24). The 32-year-old rapper decided to drop the song after finishing up his highly anticipated Detroit 2 album due out next week.
“My heart and my gut was saying not only do people deserve that song right now,” Sean tweeted on Tuesday (Aug. 25). “I felt like hearing nips [sic] voice, his presence and the energy of the song itself was needed and deserved it’s own moment!”
A snippet of the song debuted during Hit-Boy and Boi1da’s Verzuz battle in April. Sean said that he has wanted to release the song ever since then.
“My label (a few people there, not the whole label) thought it wasn’t smart to put this song out ahead of my album, they told my team I should hold on to it…they still supported my decision in the end tho [sic],” he explained in another tweet.
The record opens with a clever and poignant verse from Nipsey. “F*ck rap I’m a street legend, block love me with a deep reverence,” he raps. “I was birthed in a C-section/Hella cops and police presence, we got opps so we keep weapons. We on y’all block while y’all eat breakfast. A lot of shots, we broke street records. Watch how you talk, I got reflexes.”
On Sean’s verse, he reveals that he reached out to Kendrick Lamar after Nipsey was killed and addresses the alleged beef between him and the Compton MC. Fans also believe that he hinted at Jhené Aiko suffering a miscarriage. “Should be a billionaire based on the time off I’m not takin,’” raps Sean. “Probably why the sh*t with me got crazy and we lost a baby.”
Detroit 2 is executive produced by Hit-Boy, Sean and Kanye West. The album drops on Sept. 4.
Listen to “Deep Reverence” below.