Big Sean is getting over an illness but that’s not stopping him from putting his bars on display over a reworked J Dilla beat for a new freestyle — check it out below.
Taking to Instagram on Wednesday (March 20), Sean put on for his fellow Detroit native as he went in over a slowed down version of The Pharcyde‘s “Drop” for his “Anderson Estate” freestyle.
“I think where I lack most as an artist is consistency/ I just haven’t had the energy to compete with enemies,” he opens candidly, before seemingly bringing up Drake, J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. “Or y’all so-called bigger three/ But every verse I lay, fans love to say, ‘Man, n-ggas is sleep!’”
Elsewhere on the track, Sean delivers some clever bars while talking to his younger self — or “the old Sean” as he puts it.
“Sean, how long you knew you was finna win?/ How long you been plottin’ on M’s?/ Since before the TV show/ You was in the office and cutting off friends/ Since the POW chain setting trends, hold up/ How long you been plottin’ on a B?/ Since before you had a song with Jay?/ Since before you knew Jhene?,” he raps, referencing his longtime partner and mother of his child.
He then goes on to explain that he dropped out of high school to help Kanye West finish recording his chart-topping classic album Graduation.
“Back when you was a fly on the wall/ And dropped out of school to help Ye finish up Graduation/ Back when you hit your first celebrity crush and realized/ There’s badder girls back at home waiting, they just ain’t as famous/ Back when it was Finally Famous you performed at Plan B/ Sold every ticket yourself and n-ggas was still hatin’?/ Before you recorded at the same studio as J Dilla … Before you ever made a dollar off of rap/ But it was your full time job though regardless/ ‘Cause you know the easiest time to give up is when it’s the hardest/ Right now I’m talking to the old Sean.”
In his caption, he added: “Look i been in the crib getting over this food poisoning (Norovirus). i figured if Jordan can play in the Finals w/ food poisoning, least i can do is drop some bars! WE LETTING MORE FLY TOMORROW!!!”
Check out the freestyle below:
This is certainly not the first J Dilla beat that Big Sean has gone in over. Just earlier this year, he joined Bryson Tiller in taking turns rapping over Dilla‘s beat from Slum Village‘s “Get Dis Money” on a single of the same name.
On the cut, which was featured on Tiller’s Slum Tiller Vol. 3 EP, part of the singer’s “Tiller Tuesdays” series, the Louisville-bred MC laments the end of a relationship, spitting: “She treat me like I’m deceased, like I’m a dead artist …My n-gga warned me like, ‘Please, dog, be very cautious.‘”
Big Sean also taps into his relationship bars, rapping: “I guess you don’t know what you got until you see it going/ Seeking closure but I text emoji left the message open.”
Sean appears to be on the road to a new project as he debuted a new song at Rolling Loud over the weekend and confirmed it will hit streaming services this Friday (March 22).
In a clip captured by Instagram blogger Riki P. on Saturday (March 16), Big Sean is seen running off stage as the hook to a song plays in the background. The Detroit MC’s signature adlib is heard playing over the same horn-heavy sample as Three 6 Mafia‘s 2005 hit “Poppin’ My Collar,” featuring Project Pat.
At the end of his set at Rolling Loud, @bigsean mentioned new music dropping next week & played a snippet of a new song,” the caption on the post read. “Love the ‘Poppin My Collar’ flip.”
A second slide captures part of the track’s first verse, which was played for fans in the Rolling Loud audience as well.
Hours after Riki P. shared the snippet, Big Sean himself jumped in the comments to further confirm that the track is set to hit all platforms this week.
“Not sure why the lyrics were goin in n out like that?! But anyway, next week its on!,” he wrote along with a string of flame emojis.
