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Detroit

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Sam Riddle

Detroit, also know as the Motor City, the D or D-Town, is steeped in cultural history and home to Detroit Techno. While it may be most famous as the birthplace of the automobile, Detroit is about so much more than cars. The Motor City boasts thriving art, music, sports, dining, and nightlife scenes.

Born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Samuel Riddle is an artist manager at Roc Nation; currently working with Meek Mill, Megan Thee Stallion and additional talent. Having lived across the States most recently in hotels while traveling, he identifies the spirit of Detroit as his biggest inspiration because of the gravitation pull of home he feels from the city. From sneaker shops and weed dispensaries to his favourite book stores, Samuel shares his favourite spots across the city which he calls home.

A little tip if you’re travelling to the D, know your difference between your Coney Islands. Coney Island is a seaside Brooklyn, NY neighbourhood. In Detroit, it’s a term that appears after the name of many restaurants and basically means a diner. Coney Islands are cheap and comfortable, with unlimited coffee refills, an impressive range of hot dogs, and big omelettes. Samuel includes the decades-long rivalry between two of the originals, 

Detroit is the birthplace of Techno and still hosts one of the most prestigious electronic music festivals in the world, contextually giving the city a rich history with record stores and DJ culture. Paramita is an unique record store that is also a wine bar and a steward in the Detroit beat scene.



Detroit is a potential gold-mine for the cannabis industry and will see an influx of jobs and industry in the city once marijuana is fully recreational. One disproportionate measure of the cannabis industry is that only 4.3% of the business is controlled by black owned companies. Furthermore, despite roughly equal usage rates, blacks in America are 3.73 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana. Viola is a black-owned business and my favourite medicinal dispensary in the city, owned by former NBA star Al Harrington.

Cliff Bells is a Detroit institution and my favourite brunch in the city. Pre-Covid you could drop in here on a weekend morning or afternoon to hear live jazz with a scene that feels like a time machine or out of a Fred Astaire movie, as the NY Times described it.

With iconic shoe collaborations (see: New Balance) and a pivotal place in the street wear scene, especially in the Midwest - Burn Rubber shaped culture through its employees and friends that include Big Sean, Jay John Henry, Cliff Skighwalker and more hometown heroes.

Sweet Water is across the street from my favourite concert venue in Detroit, St. Andrews Hall. It was a ritual to visit Sweet Water before and after concerts to grab a meal. I haven’t eaten meat regularly in almost three years, but I still dream about their Buffalo Wings.

A library-esq used book store that boasts over an over 1-million book inventory across their two locations in Detroit and nearby suburb Ferndale. My father used to take me here as a kid and I would try my hardest to get lost in the maze-like-store so I could read until my heart was content.

Detroit has gotten a lot of attention for ‘ruin porn’; the trend of photographing delapitated buildings as if that was what represents the city. The Heidelberg Project flips that trend on it’s head a bit; as a city block-long outdoor community art exhibit that transforms discarded items into exhibits, sculptures and statements.

Coney Islands are kinda to Detroit as Waffle House is to Atlanta. There are so many great ones across all of Michigan including Lou’s in Detroit, Abe’s in Ypsilanti, and Sparty’s in East Lansing (where I went to college at Michigan State.) For this guide and looking at Downtown Detroit - the debate is American Coney Island vs Lafayette Coney Island, which sit next door from one-another. If you ask me its Lafayette all day.

Cliff Bells

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