Big Sean released his debut album, Finally Famous, after releasing three mixtapes with the same name. There was a heavy buzz surrounding Big Sean around a year ago and as he released his album much later than anticipated, many of hip-hop’s critics and writers were already tired of Big Sean’s flow.
Yes, his story is inspiring and it was miraculous success. We’ve all heard his story in interviews about how he was basically signed off of freestyling in front of Kanye West. That’s all great and I’m proud of him but it’s gotten to the point where there’s only so much a buzz can do. This album was the ultimate test of worth of Big Sean’s career.
By the way, if you saw the G.O.O.D. Music BET cypher a few months ago, Big Sean completely killed it but it turns out that a lot of those rhymes were spread throughout over different songs on Finally Famous: The Album.
The album is an attempt at being all-embracing. It’s spread out with radio hits such as “My Last,” which is played every third song on radio, “Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay” featuring Kanye West (who kills his verse), “Don’t Wait For Me” which features Lupe Fiasco, and “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me.”
A lot of the album seems as if it’s geared more towards the live show–especially the song entitled “Dance (A$$)” which doesn’t sound spectacular on record but is performed with super high energy.
Then there are notable features in songs like “High” featuring Wiz Khalifa & Chiddy, and “Livin’ This Life” featuring The Dream, and “Memories Pt. 2” which features John Legend.
Once you go through the first three quarters of the album, you think you’ve heard it all. But then the overall feel of the songs switch gears. All of a sudden, you’re in a hip-hop soul section of the album, which reflects the influence Kanye has had on him. More introspective and retrospective while making statements on his life right now with the tracks “So Much More,” “What Goes Around,” and “Celebrity.”
The back third of the album is my favorite section because it’s the realest and truthful he gets. His rise to fame and success have gotten him to the top so quickly and it’s in these songs that he comes back down to Earth and is realizing the whirlwind of events that have occurred.
With all of the support, Big Sean’s career looks bright but he’s got to keep working hard, and he definitely has been! For the last few weeks, Big Sean has been everywhere and back. I went to his show in Santa Barbara, California a week ago and he had was in New York performing the night before. Then early the next morning, I heard him live on a Los Angeles radio station. He’s been doing press and performances back-to-back for weeks.
This was a genuine attempt at releasing something worthwhile and he didn’t exactly hit it on the head. But with support from artists like Kanye West and Jay-Z as well as the blogs like illRoots (who designed his album cover), he’ll do just fine.
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