''Detroit'' is the fourth mixtape by American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. Anderson began his music career in 2007 and gained popularity in 2010 with his third mixtape '' Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big''. He then s ...

. It was released for free download on September 5, 2012, by G.O.O.D. Music. ''Detroit'' features

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

s from these fellow rappers such as J. Cole,

Juicy J Jordan Michael Houston III (born April 5, 1975), known professionally as Juicy J, is an American rapper and record producer. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he is a founding member of the Southern hip hop group Three 6 Mafia, established i ...

, King Chip, French Montana, Royce da 5'9",

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

and

Tyga Michael Ray Nguyen-StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson ...

- along with track narrations by Common,

Young Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. Signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, his major label debut, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', was released the followin ...

and

Snoop Lion Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, ...

. Wale and

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 20 ...

are also featured in the bonus tracks. American singers including Chris Brown, Jhené Aiko,

James Fauntleroy James Edward Fauntleroy II (born May 16, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Inglewood, California. He is best known for writing credits on tracks by high-profile artists such as Travis Scott, Frank Ocean, Kendrick ...

and

Mike Posner Michael Robert Henrion Posner ( ; born February 12, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.For Posner's full name, see He released his debut album, ''31 Minutes to Takeoff'', in 2010. The album includes the US ''Billboar ...

also make guest appearances on the mixtape. Production is by

Hit-Boy Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr. (born May 21, 1987), better known by his stage name Hit-Boy, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. In May 2011, he had signed a two-year deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music production branch. ...

Da Internz Da Internz are a production team originating from Chicago, Illinois. The duo is composed of Marcos " Kosine" Palacios and Ernest Tuo Clark. Da Internz describe their sound as "gourmet ratchet", meaning imperfect but excellent. Background Both ...

808 Mafia 808 Mafia is an American record production and songwriting team, founded by record producers Southside, TM88, and Lex Luger. Southside is currently at the helm of the group. The group also includes producers Young Miami , Fuse 100, Tarentino, ...

's own producers

Lex Luger Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and football player. In 2011 he began working with WWE on its wellness policy. He is best known for ...

and

Southside Southside or South Side may refer to: Places Australia * Southside, Queensland, a semi-rural locality in the Gympie Region Canada * South Side, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community in the St. George's Bay area on the southwest coast of Newf ...

and

KeY Wane Dwane Marshall Weir II (born July 12, 1990) is an American hip hop/R&B producer and songwriter, professionally known as Key Wane. Wane has produced for artists such as Big Sean, Jazmine Sullivan, Beyoncé, Drake, Jhene Aiko, Wale, Lil Wayne, ...

, among others. The mixtape primarily consisted of these completed original songs. ''Detroit'' caused the mixtape site

DatPiff DatPiff is an online audio distribution platform that was launched in 2005. It is headquartered in Pennsylvania. It specializes in hip-hop, rap, and urban music. The site was founded in the spring of 2005 by Marcus Frasier. It is owned by Med ...

to crash upon the mixtape's eventual release. It was viewed 1.5 million times on the day of release and was downloaded close to 700,000—with 500,000 downloads within three hours. ''Detroit'' has been downloaded over a million times. On September 4, 2020, Big Sean released a sequel to the mixtape titled

Detroit 2 ''Detroit 2'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper Big Sean, released through GOOD Music on September 4, 2020, with distribution handled by Def Jam Recordings. The album serves as a sequel to Sean's 2012 mixtape, ''Detroit (mixtape), Detr ...

, as his fifth studio album. On September 5, 2022, Big Sean re-released the mixtape on all streaming platforms.

Background

On August 20, 2012, Big Sean first announced the mixtape via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

video, titled "Big Sean Mixtape Announcement 2012". Big Sean released three song previews in the shape of short music videos as promotion before the mixtape release; "How It Feel" on August 21, "24 Karats of Gold" on August 28 and "RWT" on September 4. Sean paid for the expenses of the videos himself. The title of the mixtape pays homage to Sean's hometown of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Reception and accolades

''Detroit'' received widespread critical acclaim from music critics and fans, who hailed it as Sean's best work. The mixtape was named the 26th best album of 2012 by ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' magazine. It also won Best Mixtape at the 2013

BET Hip Hop Awards The BET Hip Hop Awards are an annual awards show, airing on BET, showcasing hip hop performers, producers and music video directors. The awards ceremony began in 2006; it was held on November 12, 2006 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, and w ...

Track listing

;Notes * On the original release, "Life Should Go On" and "All I Know" are put together on one track but are separated in the table. * "Do What I Gotta Do" does not appear in the streaming version. * "24K of Gold" interpolates lyrics from "

If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" is a song by American rapper Nas featuring fellow American rapper Lauryn Hill, released on June 4, 1996 as the first single from his second album, ''It Was Written'' (1996). Produced by Trackmasters, with som ...

" by Nas. * "How It Feel" contains a slight change in lyrics on the streaming version.

References

{{Authority control 2012 mixtape albums Big Sean albums Albums produced by Da Internz Albums produced by Don Cannon Albums produced by Hit-Boy Albums produced by Lex Luger Albums produced by Young Chop Albums produced by Key Wane Albums produced by Southside (record producer)