Fans have been waiting patiently for Big Sean’s upcoming album Detroit 2 ever since the Motor City native announced his Detroit follow-up back in March. Although the album was thought to be arriving this month, Sean still hasn’t offered an official release date. Speaking with DJ Khaled, he explained that while Detroit 2 is in its final stages, he can’t rush his best work yet.
“I feel like a lot of people have been putting out good music, [but] I’m trying to put out my best music I’ve ever done,” he told Khaled. “Ain’t a lot of artists putting out their best work in their catalogue, so that’s what I’m striving for. I’m goin’ a little extra. Because that’s what people deserve, that’s what we need right now. I’ma just give it my all. We’re on the last finishing touches.”
Sean also explained how Coronavirus has inspired him to work even harder on the album because of how badly Detroit has been hit by the novel disease. According to the New York Time s, Wayne County, MI — which includes Detroit — has reported 19,771 Coronavirus cases and 2,359 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Detroit got hit so hard, I feel like I gotta come through deeper just to rep where I’m from,” he said. “Because you know Detroit, first of all, Detroit technically has under a million people, as far as the census. But we was the No. 4 city [for COVID-19 cases]. New York got however many — 15 million people — L.A. got all these tens of millions of people, even Florida, [too]. And Detroit was up with them in the COVID numbers, but we got less than a million people, bro.”
“So, you gotta understand, it was devastation,” Sean continued. “But it’s always like that… We’ve declared bankruptcy as a city. The devastation in Flint [Michigan] dawg… When them kids had lead poisoning… So, what I’m saying is where I’m from has seen so much devastation, bro, and we so resilient. We got soul. My point is, I gotta represent. I’m calling my album Detroit 2. The Detroit mixtape was one of my best projects. So, I’m putting my best foot forward.”
During their chat, Sean also revealed that the Detroit 2 album cover art is done and that he even sent it to J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar for their approval. Watch Sean and Khaled’s full conversation below.