Big Sean Breaks Down His Favorite Features, From Leon Thomas To Drake

Key Takeaways:

• Big Sean revealed that Leon Thomas asked him to choose between two songs, but he ended up recording both.
• He shared that Kanye West and JAY-Z personally chose to keep his verse on “Clique” after removing several others.
• Drake was “very ecstatic” after hearing Big Sean’s verse on “All Me.”

If not on his own albums, Big Sean has arguably delivered some of the greatest rap verses of the past decade on other artists’ songs. On Tuesday (Dec. 30), the Detroit rapper revisited a few of his favorite features over the years for Billboard.

“Early in my career, it was always a dream to work with Nas, Eminem, JAY-Z, Ye, and Wayne,” he told the publication. “I’ve been fortunate enough to check most of those off — some more than once.” His list included picks like Justin Bieber’s “As Long As You Love Me,” Dave East’s “Man in the Mirror,” and A$AP Mob’s “Frat Rules” to mention a few.

Big Sean On His “VIBES DON’T LIE (Remix)” Feature

Among the more recent features, Sean spoke about working with Leon Thomas on “PARTY FAVORS” and “VIBES DON’T LIE (Remix),” both of which arrived via May’s HEEL. He explained, “Leon asked me to do both of them, and he was just like, ‘Pick one.’ I picked one and then I ended up catching a vibe randomly in the studio for ‘VIBES DON’T LIE.’”

The rapper continued, “I sent it to him and he was like, ‘I need you to do both of them, bro. Why not?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, alright, cool.’” Sean also mentioned that they have more music “coming, too,” so fans may get a chance to hear some of that on his next album.

Why Big Sean’s “Clique” Feature Is Still “Very Special” To Him

Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music era gave us some of the greatest posse cuts ever, including “Mercy” and “Clique.” Speaking on the latter track, Sean said it was a “big moment” to be on a track with Ye and Hov.

“There were eight other verses on the song, and they all got taken off. We don’t gotta talk about who got taken off, but it was just an honor for [Ye] and Hov to say I gotta stay on it,” he said. Although Sean was reluctant to drop names, one of the artists notably removed from “Clique” was Pusha T, as producer Hit-Boy revealed.

Drake Was “Ecstatic” After Hearing Big Sean’s Verse On “All Me”

It’s hard to forget the magic that Drake, Sean, and 2 Chainz made on “All Me” from 2013’s Nothing Was The Same. According to the Detroit 2 rapper, Drizzy was “very surprised” by the verse he submitted.

“It was a big moment for him. I remember how excited Drake was when he got the verse. He was very ecstatic,” Sean said. It had him hyped up — super hyped up. That was just a classic moment back then during Nothing Was The Same.”