Artist of The Week: Big Sean

Jukebox Corner Presents Artist of the Week: Big Sean

 

G.O.O.D. Music is essentially the Justice League of music. Each "hero" has their own strengths and weaknesses but collectively they are an unstoppable force. Today's hero is none other than our man Sean Micheal Anderson aka Big Sean. In light of his new album being released in a matter of weeks, I felt it was necessary to take a look at his track record and follow his progress. 

Big Sean stepped on the scene back in 2007 with the R&B synthesiser Mike Posner. Posner featured Sean on three tracks on his upcoming mixtape and eventually Sean dropped Finally Famous: The Mixtape. Much like many upcoming artists, this first mixtape fell through the gutter, save for "Smoke & Drive". Eventually Sean went back into the lab and released UKnowBigSean which in my opinion was his greatest mixtape to date. With banger songs like "Desire, Want & Need" and "Supa Dupa" Sean began creating a name for himself as more than just a rapper; he was becoming an artist. The variety in the mixtape was ingenious."Say You Will" sounds like an angry rant to the industry but in reality it's a young artist wanting the success that he's constantly being promised. With opening lyrics like "As I hop on this red eye flight with all red eyes; hoodie on my head, recognize a Jedi" you can only imagine how the rest of the song played out. My other personal favorite song on this mix-tape was "Love Story" (simp song I know). Sean pairs up with some no name singer named Keely, and she harmonizes with the piano in the back while he spits sweet and clever lyrics to his lady. I don't know how many times I put these lyrics on my Facebook Status page; "We got chemistry to the point we need a beaker". Either way Sean caught the attention of Big Brother West and the rest was history. Big Sean signed with G.O.O.D. Music and his career took off like expected. 

Desire, Want & Need - Big Sean 

Big Sean's next project would be another mixtape named Finally Famous: Vol. 3. This mixtape in my opinion was the middle child, it didn't live up to the potential as the previous and wouldn't get the love and respect as the upcoming. Plus Don Cannon's YELLING IS SO ANNOYING. IT'S LIKE THAT FRIEND WHO ALWAYS TYPES IN ALL CAPS OR PUTS !!!!!! AFTER RT's. His "Hometown" Remix was sub-par, another artist with the name BIG slammed the song before him. (See B.I.G. KRIT). I personally did like Fat Raps Remix, but that may be because I adore the Cool Kids, and Dom Kennedy sometimes. The problem with this mixtape was that it had too many other features which took away from Sean's lyrical potential. The beats also didn't fit his style at the time. The other gem on this song would have to be "Ambiguous" featuring Mike Posner & Clinton Sparks. Sean and Posner seems to have a decent relationship, always finding a way to feature each other on their projects. 

Ambiguous - Big Sean, Mike Posner and Clinton Sparks

Finally Famous the album finally dropped in 2011. Just from the cover one could tell that we were dealing with a more mature Sean, and when I say mature I mean he's been hanging with Mr. West more. The album incorporated more regal and professionally sounding instrumentals compared to the previous mixtapes. "My Last" became a hit for Indie and Hip-Pop radio stations as well as the theme songs for college pregames. Big Sean was taking his talents to the other crowd and he had punk-ass Chris Breezy to help him with that. Thanks Chris. Next up was "Dance (ASS)" which sparks a million twerking videos on YouTube. This song helped many guys, including myself, catch stray twerks floating around the club on the weekend. When Nicki Minaj came and hopped the track and video with her ASS then it got real serious. Then came "Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay". Kanye finally graced one of Seans songs and he sold that shit. Roscoe Dash also came in and sprinkled some of his ATL juice on the track. This literally became one of the top songs in an instant. Other features include The Jar-Jar Binks of Pittsburg aka Wiz Khalifa, John Legend, Fat Officer Ricky Rozay and Pusha T. In my mind Big Sean was successful with his first album. It wasn't a classic but it showed how far he's come from the early mixtape days, working with big name producers and artists alike. G.O.O.D. Music wins again.

"Don't Tell Me You Love Me" - Big Sean

Big Sean dropped another mixtape near the end of 2012 entitled Detroit, his hometown. Sean was finally coming into his own individual role in the world of music. His lyrics became more than Mother Goose Rhymes (See "Supa Dupa"), Sean was also choosing the right type of songs to produce and record. Honestly the whole mixtape rides. If I had to choose my top 3 songs I'd go with "Experimental" with Chip Tha Ripper (King Chip now) and Stay Trippy's very own Juicy J. This song reminds me of chemistry lab back in high-school or what Jesse listens to while working in the lab in "Breaking Bad". The second song would be "I'm Gonna Be" featuring Jhene Aiko. Love her and check her out if you've never heard of her. The final song would be "FFOE". This is one of those songs that an artist creates when he believes he has made it. It's a celebratory song honoring the place where they came from while remaining at the top of the totem pole. It may have been a bold move at first but eventually Sean would rise to the top and stay there. Another aspect I did like about this mixtape was that it allowed other great artist to speak about their times in Detroit. If you didn't know by now then you know that Big Sean loves his city almost as much as he loves his mother and calling people bitches. Common, Young Jeezy and Snoop Liger all give personal recounts of their experiences in the city of Detroit. Apparently their strip clubs have good wings.

"Higher" - Big Sean

Hall Of Fame drops on August 27th and there are high hopes for this sophomore album. Judging on how his mixtape performance went we shall see if this will be the highlight of his career. Many people are however worried that Big Sean is becoming a "sellout" but in reality he's playing the industry instead of letting them play him. The reason he creates "club" songs is because that his target audience isn't the one buying CD's. There's no money in mixtapes people. The more albums he releases with a varitety of songs, the longer he will stay in the game. Look at our man Aubs Graham. You can't turn on the radio without hearing this man's voice. Sean is relatively smart for also being a feature on songs, ranging from Drake, Kanye, Tyga and others. Be on the lookout for his album, but until then OH GAWD. 

"Fire" - Big Sean 

"Hey Miley...insert eye emoji"

S.N. Sean has the funniest ad libs thus far next to the trill trio known as Travis Porter. Between the Beeeetich, OH GAWD's, HOE he's just funny. They should make his ad libs a ringtone. Funniest ad lib however goes to his  most recent verse on "All Me" featuring Drake and 2 Chainz. HOE STFU!

~The Caterpillar