Gmac Cash on Detroit's new 'Hollywood' sign: 'You can take it back'
The Detroit rapper made fun of the new sign in a song released Tuesday.
Adam GrahamGmac Cash is no fan of the city's new welcoming sign.
The topical Detroit rapper weighed in on the new "Hollywood-style" signage along I-94 in a new song, "Detroit Sign," released late Tuesday night.
"One thing I'ma do, I'ma state the facts/ this ain't the sign that we wanted, you can take it back," he raps in the quickie song, which is just over one minute long. He continues, "all I wanna know, how much we paid for this? Real talk man, s---, I coulda made this s---."
The sign, made up of seven letters that stand around 8 feet tall that spell out D-E-T-R-O-I-T, was installed Tuesday along the route from Detroit Metropolitan Airport into the city. It's part of the city's efforts in welcoming people to the NFL Draft, April 25-27, which is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to Detroit.
Gmac Cash, known for making songs responding to the topics of the day, was not alone in his criticism of the project. Immediate feedback online about the installation was not glowing, with commenters on social media making fun of the letters' design — "I really wonder why they opted to design this in WordArt," read one comment on a Detroit News Instagram post — and others saying it would soon be tagged by graffiti artists.
The sign is one of five billboard-style welcoming signs that will be positioned around the city in the leadup to the Draft and cost the city $425,000 to produce. It was built at Fairmont Sign Co. on the city's northeast side.
Gmac Cash, whose songs include celebratory anthems about the Detroit Lions and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, said he wasn't taking potshots at the sign just to be negative.
"We just keeping it real, we ain't never hatin'/ I think I seen a bigger sign at a graduation," he raps in the song, before joking the letters will fall down if the wind blows too hard.
agraham@detroitnews.com