DETROIT (WWJ) — When the new Detroit Gateway sign was installed Tuesday along I-94, it got mixed reviews across social media, to say the least.
Plans for the "Hollywood-style" sign were revealed back in February as the city prepares to host thousands of football fans for the NFL Draft at the end of April.
But many people didn’t seem to be too impressed with the 10-foot-tall sign along the freeway, between Central Street and Cecil Avenue. Count Detroit rapper Gmac Cash among them.
The man known for his comedic hits like “Coronavirus,” “Lions Won Again” and “Big Gretch” was quick to drop a song Tuesday called “Detroit Sign.”
“One thing I’mma do, I’mma state the facts. This ain’t the sign we ordered, you can take it back,” the song’s opening line says.
Gmac Cash compares the sign’s letters to Toys R Us and says it looks like the sign was “ordered off f*****g Wish,” as well as several other witty quips throughout the minute-long song.
**WARNING: The video below contains explicit language
While the sign matches the renderings released by the city and Detroit-based Fairmont Sign Company back in February, it appears many people on social media have mistaken an AI-generated image of a much larger sign.
The AI image, included in the cover art for Gmac Cash’s song, shows massive letters on a large, grassy hill, seemingly in the middle of Downtown Detroit near the Renaissance Center.
While they're not nearly as big as the iconic 45-foot Hollywood Sign, the 8-foot-tall letters will also light up in the city's colors of green and white, and eventually greenery will cover the 2-foot-tall concrete bases to make it appear as if the letters are “floating.”
The plan is for the sign to serve as a friendly greeting for NFL fans from all across the country as they head into the city from Detroit Metro Airport along EB I-94 for the NFL Draft between April 25-27, which is expected to draw as many as 300,000 people to Downtown Detroit.
Smaller aluminum “Welcome to Detroit” signs will also be installed ahead of the draft on the city’s borders at:
• I-75 and 8 Mile
• I-96 and Telegraph
• I-94 at Moross Road
• Southfield Road at 8 Mile
• Southfield Road and Ford Road