Big Sean has got people talking about the freestyle he dropped on Instagram Wednesday.
Recorded at his Los Angeles home earlier today, Sean raps over what he calls a reimagined J Dilla beat for the Pharcyde's "Drop," courtesy of Boi-1da, Leon Thomas, and Jahaan Sweet. The 35-year-old rapper reveals he has been recovering from food poisoning when he felt inspired by Michael Jordan's flu game in the 1997 NBA Finals and wanted to power through to deliver new music to his fans.
Sean wastes no time delivering arguably the standout bar, taking aim at the "so-called bigger three" in hip-hop today, who are presumably Drake, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, in no particular order.
"I think where I lack most as an artist is consistency," he raps at the start. "I just haven't had the energy to compete with enemies, or y'all so-called bigger three."
Sean does not say anything else about the topic, but you can listen to the entire freestyle below.
"WE LETTING MORE FLY TOMORROW," Sean concluded in the caption, signaling a possible rollout is in the works after teasing the imminent arrival of new music last week.
Sean followed up the freestyle with a message, declaring, "This next run personal, LFG!!!"
It's not entirely clear what that statement means, but if Sean is already putting a spotlight on the "so-called bigger three" in hip-hop, does this mean his long-simmering pseudo-rivalry with Kendrick could finally boil over?
Their differences started just over a decade ago when Kendrick's verse stole the show on Big Sean's "Control (HOF)." The song was released ahead of his sophomore studio album Hall of Fame, but never appeared on the project due to sample clearance issues.
Many wondered if the track was scrapped because "Control (HOF)" did not have the desired effect for Sean, and instead put all of the attention on Kendrick.
Since then, the two have engaged in subliminal messages here and there, but it has never escalated beyond that. Sean drops a bar seemingly about K. Dot under the guise of addressing rappers in general; an unreleased Kendrick song featuring a jab at Sean leaks; the cycle continues.
Another alleged K. Dot song surfaced last year where the Compton native actually mentioned Sean by name. "Big Sean keep sneak dissin', I let it slide," he raps in the original version of "Element." "I think his false confidence got him inspired, I can't make them respect you baby, it's not my job."
While people believed the song was fake, Jay Rock complicated matters by suggesting it was real. Real or not, Big Sean did not interpret the bars as a diss.
