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Big Sean has happy kids on his hands as he unveils studio at Boys & Girls Club in Detroit

Brian McCollum
Detroit Free Press

Big Sean's latest Detroit investment was already humming with action Saturday, as eager neighborhood kids filled his new production studio on the city's west side.

The rapper's $100,000 facility at the Dick & Sandy Dauch Boys & Girls Club had them donning headphones, manning audio workstations, tinkering with DJ controllers, and running the lighting gear on a small performance stage. Big Sean looked on smiling as young singers and dancers covered songs by Lizzo and others.

Funded by his Sean Anderson Foundation, the remodeled space follows a fully equipped recording studio he opened at his alma mater Cass Tech in 2015.

“The west side of Detroit is my old neighborhood," he said Saturday, an afternoon full of selfies and hugs with young fans as he unveiled the facility. "It’s a full-circle moment when your neighborhood supports you and holds you high, and you’re in a position to be able to hold it up in your own way and take it further.”

Big Sean takes questions from reporters in the new studio he donated to the Dick and Sandy Dauch Boys and Girls Club in Detroit Saturday, August 17, 2019.

The space, which includes three video-editing bays and an audio-mixing console, will host intimate live performances, movie nights and classes on topics such as screenwriting, said Shawn Wilson, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan.

"Detroit is like one of those staples in music," Big Sean said, citing the deep roots of Motown and other traditions. "It's important that we keep that legacy of being one of music's backbones. We've got a reputation to uphold."

Big Sean's forthcoming album, whose title hasn't been announced, is expected to be released soon as he aims to notch his third consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard 200. "Single Again," the album's lead release, arrived in July with a video filmed in Detroit.

More:Watch Big Sean's new video for 'Single Again,' filmed around Detroit

More:Detroit rapper Big Sean releases new song, 'Overtime'

The Dauch Boys & Girls Club, in the city's Cody Rouge district, is one of BGCSM's five standalone facilities in the region, and it's the first to be overhauled as part of the organization's "Reimagine" campaign to modernize its sites. The group is aiming to raise $15 million in three years for the overall project.

Big Sean's studio is part of a Dauch transformation that includes a just-opened innovation center with electronic gaming and other amenities, sponsored by the Detroit Red Wings and Comcast/NBCUniversal. 

Rayah Kolbusz mixes music in the new studio donated to the Dick and Sandy Dauch Boys and Girls Club in Detroit Big Sean Saturday, August 17, 2019.

"We're trying to create an environment that's fun and exciting, but educational too," said Wilson, a former Ford executive who has worked closely with Big Sean and his foundation on previous projects.

Wilson said he immediately started soliciting community feedback for the Dauch site when he took the BGCSM reins eight months ago. The organization is broadening its mission, he said, welcoming adults and families as it seeks to strengthen neighborhood ties and foster networks.

On hand Saturday were Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, along with a crew from ABC News' "Nightline" program documenting the day for an upcoming segment.

"Here on the west side of Detroit today, we're demonstrating what it means when a community comes together," said Gilchrist.

Saturday's festivities, which included a colorful block-party style event out back, kicked off Big Sean's second annual DON Weekend, a series of community-based activities hosted by his Sean Anderson Foundation. 

Myra Anderson, Big Sean's mom and head of his foundation, choked up as she spoke about the value of institutions such as the Boys & Girls Clubs. Raising her sons as a single mother, Anderson said, she was often "scared" about their environment.

"I just want to get kids off the street," said Anderson, a former schoolteacher. "And this is such a good, clean, safe place that you can feel good about having your kids here."

Big Sean said the clubs are crucial to uplifting young people — and can set the stage for bigger things.

"I think it can save somebody’s life, if they have somewhere to go. I think it can change somebody’s life," he said. "It can be the start of million-dollar companies. … It all starts here. I think there are going to be a lot more millionaires and billionaires from Detroit, and I think the Boys & Girls Club is going to have something to do with that."

Big Sean listens to performers in the new studio he donated to the Dick and Sandy Dauch Boys and Girls Club in Detroit Saturday, August 17, 2019.

Sunday's DON Weekend agenda will include a free mental-health panel with Big Sean, scholar Michael Eric Dyson and psychiatrist Dr. Jessica Clemons. It follows Sean's frank discussions on social media this spring about his battles with anxiety and depression.

Opening up on the topic meant getting over "the hurdle of not being embarrassed," he said Saturday.

"I think that it used to have a little taboo or something, definitely a stigma to it," Sean said. "But I only talk about it because I know other people go through it. ... I didn’t talk about it for any type of gain, career-wise. I just talked about it so somebody else could gain something from it."

Many in the music industry turn to drugs or drinking to cope with psychological issues, the rapper said, but "I had to learn how to deal with these types of problems a different way."

"One of the things I go through on a daily basis is learning how to take care of myself properly — that includes not just physically, not just spiritually, but also mentally, also emotionally," he said. "I didn’t (always) realize it’s the most important thing."

The mental-health panel will start at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Dauch Boys & Girls Club, 16500 Tireman.

Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.

DON Weekend details:donweekend.org