Hear Kanye West, Drake and Big Sean Team Up for ‘Blessings’
Big Sean is set to release his third album Dark Sky Paradise on February 24th, and following “I Don’t Fuck with You,” his biggest solo single to date, comes “Blessings” featuring Drake and an uncredited Kanye West. The Boi-1da and Vinylz-produced finds Big Sean rifling off the reasons he’s blessed over an unsteady beat. “Blessings” marks the first time Drake and Kanye have adorned the same track since the all-star “Forever” with Eminem and Lil Wayne in 2009.
Given the recent spat between Lil Wayne and Cash Money, including allegations that the rapper has never received any royalties from Drake’s music despite signing him to Young Money, Drake’s opening lines may hold a deeper meaning. “Look, I ain’t gonna say that we back or nothing,” rhymes Drake. “‘Cause that implies that we’re back from something / And if it’s back for something, it’s some checks you owe us / I expect that payment, nothing less or over,” Drake says. “I don’t need them favors that you ask me for / I could give two fucks where the Grammys go / I just gave out Grammys on my Instagram.”
While the initial version of “Blessings” arrived as a four-minute video, Big Sean later uploaded a five-minute version on his SoundCloud. That extra minute finds an uncredited West rhyming, “They trying to compromise my condom size / So I Snapchat that whole shit.” West then lists all the reasons he’s blessed: “Right now I’m calling you from my home gym / Right after that nigga I’m going to swim / Just did a couple laps in my home pool / And my daughter over there getting home-schooled / I’m blessed.”
Big Sean was among the first artists to join West’s then-nascent GOOD Music in 2007, two years after the Detroit-bred Sean slipped the Yeezus rapper his mixtape when West visited a local radio station. Although Big Sean previously released two albums – 2011’s Finally Famous and 2013’s Hall of Fame – his biggest claims to fame were a primo guest spot on Jay Z and Kanye’s “Clique” and stepping out of the way for Kendrick Lamar’s vicious verse on “Control.”