Detroit 2

Big Sean had originally planned to announce the album on March 13, 2020, coinciding with "313 Day", an annual celebration of Detroit; however, this announcement was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] Sean instead announced the album later in March, with no release date specified.[1] In late August, Sean announced over Twitter that the release date of the album would be September 4, 2020.[2]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	6.4/10[10]
Metacritic	71/100[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
Beats Per Minute	60%[13]
Clash	7/10[14]
Consequence of Sound	B+[15]
HipHopDX	3.5/5[16]
NME	[17]
Pitchfork	5.2/10[18]
Tom Hull – on the Web	B+ ()[19]

Detroit 2 was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 71, based on eight reviews.[11] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 6.4 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[10]

Fred Thomas of AllMusic praised the album, stating, "The production is clean and engaging, with polished beats and the occasional glossy hook providing a contrast for Big Sean's visceral rhymes and urgently delivered performances".[12] Reviewing the album for Clash, Robin Murray stated, "Detroit 2 has that passion, that willingness to progress. Equal parts entertaining and wide, it finds the rapper coming full circle, only to find himself once more".[14] In a positive review, A. D. Amorosi of Variety wrote that "Big Sean makes Detroit 2 a real and righteous place, even if he has to use a handful of holy clichés to prove it".[20] Rashad Grove of Consequence of Sound said, "Undoubtedly, Big Sean's growth as an artist and, more importantly, as a human being is the scarlet thread that ties Detroit 2 together. The complexity of the human experience, as told from the vast experiences of Sean's own life, comes shining through".[15] HipHopDX's reviewer Mark Elibert stated in his review that "Detroit 2 shows when Big Sean opens up and tells his story he's an artist worthy of being in the conversation of the best of his era. He just needs to come back stronger with more airtight songs and not attempt to attract every audience that's out there".[16]

In a lukewarm review, NME's Will Lavin wrote, "Although it can be overblown, Sean's passion is unreserved here, the record peppered with Instagram-worthy captions that urge listeners to take inspiration from their surroundings while keeping friends and family close. This is why Sean's name continues to stay on the lips of rap connoisseurs almost a decade after his debut".[17] In a mixed review, Pitchfork's Drew Millard stated: "On his fifth solo album, Big Sean gets personal, leans on a slate of high-profile guests to provide most of the entertainment, and struggles to deliver anything that isn't fundamentally embarrassing".[18]

Detroit 2 debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 103,000 album-equivalent units (including 30,000 pure album sales) in its first week.[23] This became Sean's third US number-one debut and his seventh top-ten album.[23] The album also accumulated a total of 93.55 million on-demand US streams from all its tracks, in the week ending September 19, 2020.[23] In its second week, the album dropped to number seven on the chart, earning an additional 37,000 units.[24]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer
• "Feed" is stylized in all caps

Sample credits

• ^{^[c]} "Body Language" contains samples of "Soulful Moaning", written and performed by Shawn Demean Harris.
• ^{^[d]} "Full Circle" contains samples of "Baby's Paradise", written by Didier Marouani, and performed by Space.
• ^{^[e]} "Time In" contains samples of "Too Deep", written by Anthony Paul Jeffries, Daniel Daley, Majid Al Maskati, Maneesh Bidaye, Stephen Garrett, Benjamin Bush and Timothy Mosley, as performed by Dvsn.
• ^{^[f]} "The Baddest" contains samples of "Gojira Tai Mosura", written and performed by Akira Ifukube, taken from the motion picture soundtrack of Godzilla vs. Mothra.
• ^{^[g]} "Don Life" contains samples of "Human Nature", written by John Bettis and Steve Porcaro, as performed by Michael Jackson.
• ^{^[h]} "Friday Night Cypher" contains samples of "Grindin'", written by Gene Thornton, Terrence Thornton, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, as performed by Clipse; and samples from "We Gonna Make It", written by Jason Phillips, David Styles, Alan Maman and Samuel Johnson, as performed by Jadakiss, which itself samples "My Music", written and performed by Jackson.

Credits adapted from Tidal.[26]

Musicians

Technical