Big Sean’s sixth studio album is scheduled to come out later in the year. To hold fans over, he dropped by “On The Radar” on Tuesday (July 16) for a freestyle. The Detroit native spat bars over Aaliyah’s “If Your Girl Only Knew” for nearly three minutes straight with a J Dilla cap covering the mic.
Unfortunately, some listeners took his raps as indirect jabs at other artists. In particular, the Detroit-based artist spat, “N**gas looking for engagement like they got their knee bent / I got better things to do than find someone to beef with / Or else I’m off the deep end.” Many people saw the aforementioned lyrics as a nod to Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s feud.
“Man, this industry is terrible, I can’t even vouch / I seen grown men get matching tattoos for the clout / I had trainwrecks and kicked homewreckers out of my house,” Big Sean rapped elsewhere. Fans perceived the lines as shots at Ye, who got matching ink with Steve Lacy and Lil Uzi Vert in 2022.
The Finally Famous creator hopped on Twitter soon after to address the speculation. “F**k these b**ch a** n**gas, every one of them,” read one tweet. In another, he wrote, “Y’all goin’ [with] so many narratives. I’m talking to [the] haters who just keep finding something to point out they don’t like ’bout me. It’s not even worth explaining [though]. I’ma just focus on the music.”
In March, the “I Know” rapper dropped “Precision” on the heels of loose singles like “Whole Time (Freestyle)” and a mini-documentary titled Clarity. His last album arrived in the form of 2020’s Detroit 2, which featured Lil Wayne, Post Malone, Young Thug and Ty Dolla Sign, to name a few.
Big Sean will also be publishing his first book, “Go Higher: Five Practices for Purpose, Success, and Inner Peace,” in October.