Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Big Sean pays homage to his home city with his fifth album, Detroit 2, and he decided to showcase a wide array of its hip-hop talent on the project’s nine-minute track, “Friday Night Cypher.” It unites Detroit legends like Eminem and Royce da 5'9" with new stars and emerging acts like Tee Grizzley, Kash Doll, Sada Baby, and 42 Dugg. The song boasts seven total beats, with overall production handled by Hit-Boy. The first of the beats samples “Grindin,” the classic, Neptunes-produced hit by Clipse.
“It’s definitely a moment on the album where the city comes together, even people who are rumored to have misunderstandings and beef,” Big Sean told Vulture about the track. This seems to be a nod to the rumored beef between Tee Grizzley and Eminem and Royce Da 5'9".
For his part, Royce shouts out Tee Grizzley on his verse:
I went from hottest signed artists, don dada, to G
Street lord, rock bottom, Godfather, and P
D-Boy, Rottweiler, Sean, Sada, and Tee
Meanwhile, Eminem finishes things off by taking yet another shot at his critics and detractors, positioning himself as lyrically superior to his competition:
And I get off like an acquittal, I spit it, you critique it
It feels like I’m bein' belittled by midgets
It’s like holding a nuke or a damn bazooka
And walkin' right up the middle of little kids' f-ckin' pillow fight with it
Big Sean previously linked up with Eminem and Royce for another Detroit hip-hop showcase back in 2014 with “Detroit vs. Everybody,” including verses from DeJ Loaf, Danny Brown, and Trick Trick. Now, he’s putting even more talent from his city on with “Friday Night Cypher.”
Listen to the song above and read all the lyrics to Big Sean’s “Friday Night Cypher” featuring Kash Doll, Payroll Giovanni, Royce da 5'9", Sada Baby, Drego, Boldy James, 42 Dugg, Eminem, Cash Kidd, and Tee Grizzley on Genius now.
