Big Sean is hard at work promoting his fourth album I Decided, but he opted to take a break from new music in favor of a Kanye West throwback during his recent appearance on BBC Radio 1 Xtra’s Live Lounge. Sean took the stage to perform a cover of Kanye’s 2007 Graduation track “I Wonder.”
He kept all of Kanye’s lyrics intact except for one line. On the original version, Kanye raps:
Told me in my lifetime
My name would help light up the Chicago skyline
Instead, Sean changed Chicago to Detroit, his native city:
Told me in my lifetime
My name would help light up the Detroit skyline
As a longtime signee of Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music, Sean has built a strong relationship with the Chicago MC over the years. “He’s one of my best friends,” Sean said in a 2015 Rolling Stone interview. “We can talk about anything. I go to their house and eat dinner—Kim will fix up some food for me—and we’ll work on music and talk. It’s cool vibes…He always brings out the best in me as an artist, and I appreciate that.”
“I Wonder” was almost the fourth single from Graduation, but Kanye ended up choosing “Flashing Lights” instead. The G.O.O.D Music boss' self-produced song samples 2Pac’s “Ambitionz Az A Ridah” and British singer and poet Labi Siffre’s 1972 track “My Song.”
You can watch Big Sean’s performance above and read all the lyrics to Kanye West’s “I Wonder” on Genius now.
