Following the release of his new album Detroit 2, Big Sean has opened up about his personal conversations with Nipsey Hussle before his sudden passing in March 2019. The Detroit rapper talked to Angie Martinez on Tuesday (September 8) about their relationship and how Nipsey was always growing as a person.
“Me and him definitely talked about taking care of ourselves,” Sean said. “You know, Nipsey was a thinker. He was somebody who I feel like was going up, not just in his craft, but you could tell he was radiating more, spreading more knowledge and becoming more aware of things.”
He continued, “I don’t know if that’s why God called him back, I don’t know if he did what he was supposed to do. It feels like he was gone too soon, but he was somebody who was elevated. We definitely had a few conversations about that, and a lot of other things too. He was definitely really into the music.”
Throughout their friendship, the Los Angeles rapper would also tell Sean how much he loved to see him close with his mother.
“He really hit me up a lot about the relationship I have with my mom,” he said. “He really admired that. He would always hit me up like, ‘I love this pic of you and your mom.’ I just remember like over the years… I don’t want to get too emotional talking about him, but it’s crazy.”
Nipsey was featured on the song “Deep Reverence” and Sean had the full blessing of his loved ones to do so.
“His family has been super supportive of the song,” Sean added. “They all showed me love and reached out to me and told me that I’m doing good, so I appreciate them for letting me rock like that.”
On their collaboration, Sean says Nipsey’s death made him reach out to Kendrick Lamar to clear any issues between them.
“It wasn’t even really a beef, it was kind of more like an internet made-up thing,” he said. “The energy started becoming so big that it was starting to feel like there was something between me and him. I knew it wasn’t though so I kind of just never followed through with it. For him to be who he is and what he does, I know where his mindset is. His mindset is on positivity just like mine is.”
Shortly after Nipsey died, TDE president Terrence “Punch” Henderson asked Sean whether he had got in contact with Kendrick, which prompted him to do exactly that.
“I reached out to him, and the mutual respect me and K.Dot have for each other is just kings respecting kings and brothers respecting brothers,” he said. “He told me that he appreciated the shoutout on the song too.”
Sean also said Kendrick heard the lyrics before the song dropped, but he would have been willing to change it if he wasn’t happy with it.
“I didn’t play it, but I think Hit-Boy or somebody played it for him in advance like randomly,” he said. “Whenever I do stuff like that, I never surprise it on people, I play it for them. If they’re uncomfortable with it, I’ll take it out for sure.”
Revisit “Deep Reverence” below.