The “Finally Famous” 10th-anniversary deluxe edition features an old but never released before freestyle Big Sean recorded a decade ago.
The freestyle is about XXL Freshman 2010, the year the publication included Sean on its annual list of the hottest up and coming rappers.
Sean recorded it even before his debut album, and as one would expect, it is full of namedrops and references. But some of them hit differently. The Detroit rapper puts together Kanye, who signed him to GOOD Music, Dr. Dre as a symbol of undisputable success and hip hop and Eminem as the embodiment of this success, something that other rappers try to recreate:
Only two mixtapes in, but in my city, one of the realest, though
And at that time, niggas peep niggas was stealin’ flows and buildin’ off it (Off it)
And at that time, that nigga Ye was like, “Dre, I’m just tryin’ to make them Ms off it” (Ems)
It is subtle, but it is deliberate.
Listen to the track below:
