Big Sean had one of my favorite songs last year, the Kanye West produced "Whatever She Wants". An unsigned rapper in 2007 Big Sean decided to stand outside of a radio station where Kanye was doing an interview, hoping for a chance to meet and him and give him his demo, Kanye gave Sean 16 bars to prove himself, Sean was up to the challenge, and was able to prove himself. West would sign Big Sean soon after, Sean went on to release several mixtapes named "Finally Famous" and yesterday Sean released his first studio album.
First off, Big Sean's official mixtapes were pretty quality, but to be honest, nothing stand-out. To me, Big Sean sounded like a mash-up of Kanye, Drake, and Lupe, all of which are unique performers with their own sound and voice. I thought Sean's sing/rap style was very reminiscent of Drake, his lyrical style was Kanye influenced and his voice had a Lupe feel. However, his lyrics are very much his own, and for the most part have a distinctive feel to them. Sean's mixtapes did do their job of building interest, because they had me very curious about his first album, maybe more than most hip-hop fans.
Not to overstate it, but Big Sean's "Finally Famous" was everything I hoped for last year with Drake's "Thank Me Later", Drake released what is in my mind one of the best mixtapes of all-time in "So Far Gone" and I was royally disappointed in the album Drake would finally release, which I felt missed more than it hit. Big Sean's debut doesn't disappoint, if anything it makes me want to go back and listen to Sean's earlier mixtapes
I got the Deluxe Edition of "Finally Famous" which features 17 tracks, most of them are produced by legend N.O. Id, whose production is pretty much perfect, it is both very modern but classic at the same time. The theme of the album is pretty much incapsulated in the Album's title, Sean is finally well-known, recognized and paid, as he talks about the strange turn from local Detroit rapper to being on the same level as Common and Kanye.
Almost every song on this album hits to me, with the exception of "Dance", which I didn't really care for, but wasn't a bad song, just didn't hit for me. However, there are many standouts, the lead single "My Last" which features Chris Brown is, as does "Marvin & Chardonnay" which features Kanye West, and I love the album closer "So Much More" where N.O. Id's production is brilliant, and Sean's flow is spectacular.
From start to finish this is a pretty brilliant hip-hop album on so many levels, the production, the guest appearances, the lyrics, and Sean's vocal styling. To me, Big Sean went from a decent performer with a lot of potential to star on the rise. I'm guessing album's like this are why Kanye chose to call his label G.O.O.D. Music, "Finally Famous" however is great music.
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