Big Sean was already a crossover star when the GOOD Music compilation Cruel Summer dropped in 2012. That being said, the comp's lead singles bolstered his stardom. He had the opening verses on both "Mercy" and "Clique," and held his own against the likes of Pusha T, 2 Chainz and JAY-Z. The debate as to who had the best verse on "Mercy" was a recent talking on The Bigger Picture podcast. 2 Chainz was the popular answer, but Big Sean decided to jump in the comment section of the pod and provide some revelatory information.
The rapper claimed that he freestyled his "Mercy" verse before anybody else got on the song. "I did the verse first n everybody wrote theirs after me," he wrote. "I just freestyled it n then Ye was like 'thats it!' N put everybody on after." Big Sean conceded that 2 Chainz's verse was more lyrical, but he chalked this up to the advantage of Chainz hearing his verse first. "Chainz put his verse on later," he claimed. "So he of course had an advantage n made his verse more lyrical [fire emoji]." Apparently, this was standard practice during the Cruel Summer sessions. Sean claimed the same exact thing occurred during the making of "Clique."
Big Sean Claims He Has The Best Verse On "Mercy"
This is not the first time Big Sean has pushed back against the opinion that 2 Chainz bested him. Chainz claimed that be won the song way back in 2020, and Sean reportedly called him out for it. At least, that's what he said during an appearance on The Rap Pack podcast. "I immediately called him like, 'What the f*ck you talkin’ about bro?'," Sean recalled. Chainz allegedly tried to walk back the comment, but Sean remained steadfast. "He was like, 'No, no, I wasn’t talking about you, bro. I was talkin’ about the whole game. Obviously everybody on there was going crazy.' I’m like, 'That’s not how it seemed.'"
While the exchange sounded tense, Big Sean assured listeners that there was nothing but love between him and 2 Chainz. "That’s my brother," he explained. "We was just really kinda kidding around." Whoever had the best verse, both Sean and Chainz benefited from "Mercy." The single peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the highest charting single of Chainz's career, and the second-highest for Big Sean following "Dance (A$$)."
