Big Sean dropped a collab with the late Nipsey Hussle on Monday night (Aug. 24) with the reflective “Deep Reverence,” on which the two MCs reminisce about their struggle coming up. The song, which will appear on Sean’s upcoming Detroit 2 album (Sept. 4), was produced by Hit-Boy, along with Rogét Chahayed, Audio Anthem and G. Ry, and it features the two MCs coming together on the chorus, “F–k rap, I’m a street legend/ But I’m the don ’cause the streets said it/ Block love me with a deep reverence.”
After a fiery first verse from Nip, who runs down the lessons he learned running in the streets and how it made him a legend, Sean breaks down the pressures and hardships he’s faced in verse two. It kicks off with Sean revealing that Hussle’s death made him stop and ponder his own life and seek counsel from another rap legend. “After what happened to Nipsey, I reached out to Kendrick/ 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.
“Damn, I realized all my setbacks were inside of me/ In high school I learned chemistry, biology
But not how to cope with anxiety,” he continues. “Or how I could feel like I’m by myself on an island with depression on all sides of me/ With a Glock .17 right on the side of me/ Look, I ain’t think I had the thought of suicide in me/ Until life showed me all these different sides of me/ Too many times I thought the reaper was outside for me.”
Hussle’s verse zeroes in on the things he saw around him with lines such as: “I was birthed in a C-section/ Hella cops and police presence, we got opps so we keep weapons,” he raps. “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, watchin’ your cheap necklace/ Then we slide out the East exit.”
Sean has released a string of tracks this year, including “Single Again,” “Overtime” and “Bezerk.” Hussle, 33, died last year after being shot outside his Marathon Clothing store in Los Angeles.
Listen to “Deep Reverence” below.
