Songfacts®:

• A "cypher" refers to a gathering of rappers, usually taking turns freestyling. The hip-hop magazine XXL, for instance, releases an annual "Freshman Class" list who, after being honored, get together to deliver live cypher freestyles.
  
  This cut features Big Sean and a posse of Detroit MCs celebrating their home city. Over its 10-minute running time, Big Sean, Tee Grizzly, Boldy James, Drego, Sada Baby, Kash Doll, Cash Kidd, Payroll, 42 Dugg, Royce Da 5'9 and Eminem all drop verses paying tribute to the Motor City.
• Eminem concludes the song with the longest verse during which he slams his critics and detractors. Slim Shady employs his trademark comedic bars to outline how his competition is nothing compared to him.
• Eminem previously paid honor to his home city on his 2014 Shady XV track "Detroit Vs. Everybody." That song features Big Sean plus Royce Da 5'9", Danny Brown, Dej Loaf and Trick-Trick.
• KeY Wane, Jay John Henry, Helluva Beats and Hit-Boy's production features seven beat switches. The first of the seven beats samples hip-hop group Clipse's 2002 Neptunes-produced "Grindin'."
• Hit-Boy is Detroit 2's executive producer and the only artist on this song who doesn't hail from Detroit (he's from California).
• Detroit 2 is the commercial sequel to Big Sean's 2012 mixtape, Detroit. "I always wanted to do a sequel to [Detroit] because I felt like it was an album," the rapper told Apple Music. "It was a mixtape, but it was really an album for me, so in a way it's like I'm returning to the essence of myself, new and improved."
• Speaking with Genius' Rob Markman, Big Sean admitted that initially he didn't ask Eminem to be part of the song because he thought Slim Shady was "too big for this." However, when Royce da 5'9" encouraged Sean to reach out, he contacted Em's manager, Paul Rosenberg, and the "Lose Yourself" rapper agreed to come on board. "And I didn't even give him that much time to do it neither," Sean added. "So he knocked it out in a couple, a few days, really."