Fighter: Big Sean
Trainer (Gym): Kanye West (G.O.O.D. Music, Def Jam Recordings)
Cut Men: Kanye West, Mike WiLL Made It, DJ Mustard, Boi-1da, T-Minus, Vinylz, KeY Wane, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Allen Ritter, Amaire Johnson, Da Internz, DJ Dahi, DJ Mano, Jay John Henry, L&F, Metro Boomin, Mike Free, Nashiem Myrick, Noah Goldstein, OG Webbie, Rob Got Beats
Weight Class: Rap Star
Notable Fire: Blessings Feat. Drake, All Your Fault Feat. Kanye West, Paradise
Notable Trash: I Know Feat. Jhené Aiko, Deserve It Feat. PARTYNEXDOOR
Tale of the Tape: “Blue collar, gold swagger’, is the brilliant marketing tag line for the Indiana Pacers, bestowed upon them a couple of years ago when they feebly attempted to knock the Miami Heat from atop the ranks of the Eastern Conference. The slogan fit that team like a glove, and though Big Sean hails from “The D” and not “Nap Town”, as a product of the Midwest, the moniker is equally appropriate.
Big Sean prides himself on his work ethic — there’s the blue collar — which he repeatedly made known on his third solo album Dark Sky Paradise. Sean has been mildly obsessed (if that is such a thing) with his own career achievements and his perception within the hearts and minds of rap fans. He transitioned his Finally Famous mixtape series into Finally Famous the album when he first broke through on G.O.O.D. Music in the summer of 2011. With his sophomore record, Hall Of Fame, being hit with a mixed critical and commercial response, and following the very public breakup with this ex-girlfriend it seemed like Sean could potentially go into a shell, or worse, lose the faith of Def Jam.
Like a true Midwesterner, Big Sean persevered.
Sidebar: And that highly publicized broken engagement with his actress/almost-but-not-really-singer girlfriend might’ve been a good look. Plus she’s married an expecting a kid now anyway, so it all worked out.
It wasn’t quite Adele or Sam Smith, but Big Sean channeled his pain into his music, creating Dark Sky Paradise’s lead single “I Don’t Fuck With You”, a heavily west coast influenced track produced by DJ Mustard and featuring Bay Area legend E-40. Released last September, “IDFWU” was the biggest hit of Sean Don’s career, and provided more than enough reason for Def Jam/G.O.O.D. Music to go all in on his ever-important third album.
Dark Sky Paradise featured a regular Murderer’s Row of producers— one listen and you’ll quickly find this project is the breathing definition of a refined rap album in 2015. Looking at the lineup on paper, it’s reminiscent of what The Black Album was originally supposed to be. Mustard, Mike WiLL Made It, Boi-1da, T-Minus, Vinylz, KeY Wane, newcomer PARTYNEXTDOOR and some dude named Kanye West all had a hand in this project. The whole record was like an all-star game.
Too many cooks in the kitchen? Not a chance. Dark Sky allowed each producer to carve out their own niche of sound, without infringing on one another (many of these modern day super producers collaborated on various songs) and without creating an LP that sounded inconsistent or unorganized. “Blessings” (Vinylz & Ritter), “Paradise” (Mike WiLL) and “All Your Fault” (Yeezy & others) were among the cream of the crop.
Features were much of the same (what was the budget of this record?). Yeezy, Breezy, Weezy (one of the dopest Wayne verses heard in some time), Drake, Ty Dolla $ign, John Legend, Jhené Aiko, and Sean’s new lady Ariana Grande were among music’s elite who lent their talents to Dark Sky Paradise. But Ariana only made the deluxe edition! Hopefully that doesn’t screw up things at the crib, and Research was a cool record for what it’s worth, but Big Sean electing to go this route was interesting considering his contemporaries did the exact opposite. Kendrick Lamar (a small few) and J. Cole (none whatsoever) decided to shoulder the vast majority of the vocals on their most recent projects; these are the same contemporaries Sean strives to be mentioned with.
Behind the mic, the last thing Big Sean was remembered for was being his own unintentional sacrificial lamb to Kendrick on “Control” (it dwarfed the Hall of Fame release, actually). Sean was offended not as much by Kendrick’s words, but his dismissal from the pantheon of great young emcees by a large segment of the hip-hop community. Dark Sky Paradise was Sean’s chance to start fresh and lyrically demand a seat at the table with K. Dot, Cole and Drake. Unfortunately, he came up a bit short.
While Sean did show off a bit of his trademark rapid-fire rhymes (there’s that swagger) at various points throughout the album — the last few bars of “Paradise” is among the best — there still a few too many corny rhymes or metaphors:
I’m tryna move in my safe, like the safe was a safehouse/ I ain’t going out to eat, but these hoes stay on the stakeout— “Dark Sky (Skyscrapers)”
Getting dressed up for court, that’s a law suit— “Win Some, Lose Some”
Pop, pop, pop, like Pepsi Co.— “I Know”
Sean is better than this, and for the majority of Dark Sky he was. But these occasional lyrical gaffes, coupled with frequently rhyming off beat just because and the excessive features, left something to be desired.
This LP contained little to no social commentary, which is fine. Cole, Kendrick and Lupe Fiasco have heavily occupied this lane, and Sean has never been that guy. Interestingly, the 27-year-old did not display quite as much vulnerability as expected. While Kendrick and Wale were reportedly dealing with bouts of depression when recording their latest projects, Dark Sky Paradise, in spite of its title, was largely a positive record. It showed us that Sean was comfortable expressing how he’s moved past his breakup, how he’s coping with fame and how fixated he is on his craft.
Fight Night: Tenth Round KO
Hip-hop needed an album like Dark Sky Paradise. Traditional enough to keep those loyal to the rap genre invested, “Top 40”-sounding enough to warrant radio spins; enough star power to keep the youth interested, lyrical enough to satiate the streets. What’s the last album that can also lay claim these four characteristics (we’ll call it “The Jay Z Formula”)? Ross’ Hood Billionaire? Tip’s Paperwork? Jeezy’s Seen It All? That dropped last September.
After years of Pro Tools and other computer based beats dictating the sounds to which we rock, live instrumentation has been the en vogue production strategy of late. Although Sean added a touch of this on “One Man Can Change The World” (thank god he didn’t use this as the intro— the piano intro has been done to death), his third LP generally consisted of instrumentals more suited for the club than Carnegie Hall.
Dropping just a week after the surprise Drake tape, Big Sean still carried enough cachet leap to the top of the charts, recording his first number one album with Dark Sky Paradise. Perhaps as much as any artist, including Drizzy, Big Sean is the voice of the millennials. The mid-20’s guy who already feels like he’s paid his dues and the perpetual anxiousness about his career and how he can advance as quickly as possible. The social media presence. The girlfriends who would clean up at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. It all speaks to Big Sean’s reach with his peer group. If he plays his cards right, he can strengthen his foothold as one of the quintessential rap voices of this generation.
Maybe it’s the “Detroit” in him, but Sean Don appears to be at his best when speaking about his hustle, verbalizing his breakthrough of the underdog role and embracing his rap star status. Three albums in and Mr. Finally Famous seems to still be amidst his ascent in hip-hop— few emcees are fortunate enough to say that.
Blessed.