Since he's not on good terms with Ye and that circle anymore, strategically the one play that he could have done for a boost heading into a rollout would have been doing a project with Eminem before dropping another solo album.
Em still gets traction and they have multiple songs together and a seemingly good relationship. Other than that, these numbers aren't surprising
Em ain’t doing no whole album with anybody not named Royce, Dre, or mayyyybeeee a pre-washed 50.
Sean could’ve linked up with a big name producer like Metro or Hit Boy to run it back and got some traction but I can’t see any popping artist wanting to collab a whole project with him, so that leaves another Twenty88 album and honest question how much do people ACTUALLY miss Jhene Aiko?
I feel like Sean’s time has just come and gone. 17 years with almost 10 of those years as a star recording artist is a hell of an achievement. More talented rappers like Big Krit never even got that type of mainstream longevity and others like Wale got maybe 5-6 years. Kid Cudi transitioned into the “Artiste” type of role with acting being a big focus and music sustaining their core fanbase. I think one of Sean’s issues is he doesn’t have a real “core” fanbase. Like if Cudi drops an album tomorrow, it might sell just 23K but that 23K will be DIE HARD Cudi stans who will pack out a concert, buy merch, passionately dissect the music videos, etc. In contrast there doesn’t seem to be any actual Big Sean FANS to go to bat for him. I’ve never seen not one person online or in real life argue their favorite Sean album while there are people who treat that first Man On The Moon album like the holy grail. Even Wale had a sizable female fanbase who really loved his MUSIC. Women seem to think Sean is attractive but never heard a female say any particular Sean song was THEIR jam.
