SuburbanPimp
Giving game to lames since the 90s
I believe he has 3 albums, but I honestly didn't like the first two. But he found his lane on this one. Good production, a nice blend of lyrical shyt, concept songs and commercial shyt...
slight spin thread; both these 2 big sean should've been a lot more popular this year
- Thread starter I love Latina women
- Start date
I believe he has 3 albums, but I honestly didn't like the first two. But he found his lane on this one. Good production, a nice blend of lyrical shyt, concept songs and commercial shyt...
I love Latina women
Veteran
aight, i'll skip the 1st 2 then and go straight to this latest one, thanks bruh. lord knows you saved me some time
Big Sean did drop a solid album this year, but too much great music came after him so he's not heard about as much
JetFueledThoughts
Superstar
I think that One Man joint is pretty corny, but Play No Games definitely should have been a bigger record. That video is great too 
The_King_of_Everything
Yeah.
Can't believe play no games didn't get a big push smh
I love Latina women
Veteran
well, the sample of guy's 1988 hit "piece of my love" helps along with the beat actually bein' nice and then sean came through with the lyrics; the lyrics are nothin' groundbreakin' but they work for the premise of this song and the song is a nice party/club joint and then yes, the video does help
if the video wasn't what it is, the song would still be tight so i'd still fukk with it
I love Latina women
Veteran
i just finished listenin' to the dark sky paradise album. all in all, it's a decent album
but "one man can change the world" is truly the shinin' moment and the gem on the album. my god, sean hit home with that song
i just came across this really heartfelt and touchin' article and interview about the song as well as big sean's grandma. r.i.p. to his grandma
"At the precise moment that Detroit rapper Big Sean’s new album Dark Sky Paradise was released on Tuesday, he was alone in a hotel room in New York, taking advantage of a one-hour break from interviews and appearances meant to promote the record.
“I just felt so emotional, I just fell to my knees, and I was praying,” Sean told VF.com over the phone a few days later. “I was so thankful, and just crying. I felt like my grandmother was there with me. It was one of the craziest experiences that I have ever been through. I think I will remember that the most. I was just crying, and saying, ‘Thank you, God. Thank you, grandmother.’”
Sean's grandmother Mildred V. Leonard died on December 20, just days before he was scheduled to fly home and play her “One Man Can Change the World,” a song on the new album that features John Legend and Kanye West. Leonard was Sean’s personal hero, and he dedicated his verse on the song, which also features a sample of a conversation between the grandmother and grandson, to her.
“She was the backbone of the family, for sure,” Sean said. “She was born in West Virginia, she came up from nothing, she was one of the first female black captains in World War II, and she was a female police officer in Detroit. She was a teacher, and a counselor.”
“And she was just the best grandmother ever,” he continued. “Home-cooked meals after school all the time, birthday cakes, your favorite ones, every year. She was just great. She was the person who showed me that one man—meaning human—can change the world. I always said that she deserved to have John Legend sing about her after a verse that I rapped about her. I’m happy that it turned out, and that I got to get her voice on the song. She’s a special person. She’s seen Hitler and Obama in the same lifetime, and I just hope that one day I can make as big of an impact as she did.”
Which is all to say that it's been a long few months for Sean Anderson, 26, so allow him his hotel-room moment of catharsis. Though he is now three albums into his career, he’s still been known mostly to the general public as an understudy of Kanye West, who gave his career its first meaningful boost after a 2005 sidewalk audition and signed him two years later. Since then, Sean’s confident class-clown persona has gained traction on rap and pop radio, if not always with the critics. West’s co-sign has helped keep him in the public eye, where he has recently seemed more at home—especially after 2014’s ubiquitous kiss-off single “I.D.F.W.U.” and his recent romance with Nickelodeon princess turned pop divaAriana Grande. More than three years after dropping his first studio album, Finally Famous, in 2011, Sean sizes himself up on the Dark Sky Paradise track “Blessed”: “I think I’m famous enough.”
The new album features appearances by Grande, West, Drake, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne,E-40, Jhené Aiko, and Ty Dolla $ign. Much of it was recorded in a home studio Sean constructed for the project, in Detroit. VF.com spoke with him about Dark Sky Paradise, which he insisted is a reflection of his growth: “I definitely think I’m becoming a better man, and I’m just happy about that.”
VF Daily: You recorded the album in a studio you built from your house. How did you decide to do that, and did you face any hesitation from the label or other partners?
Big Sean: It was the best decision I ever made, personally and musically. I built a legit studio in my house—it’s not like I put a microphone in a room. I wanted to make a studio that was the same quality as the studios I was recording in. It has all the same equipment in it. It was perfect, because, if I wasn’t feeling the vibe, I could just walk out, go watch a movie in my house, and then come back to it. When you book a studio, you book it for a certain amount of time, and if in that time you’re not feeling the vibe, then you’re just wasting time and money. At home, I never felt that way, and it enabled me to be more productive. I didn’t have that pressure of spending that much of the label’s money each day.
And, on top of that, I got to live the music, because it was in my living environment. I would wake up at random times at night or during the day, and just get to it. I could take a nap, wake up, and get back to work. It wouldn’t work for everybody, but it really worked for me.
Who were some of the guests who actually came by the house to record?
Kanye did his verse of “All Your Fault” at his house. We were both there for that, but he was at my house working on “One Man Can Change the World.” John Legend recorded here, Jhené Aiko was here, Ty Dolla $ign, Ariana [Grande].
The album is very diverse, in terms of the vibes and moods of its songs. Was that a priority for you?
I wanted to make music that can change people’s whole mood. I want someone to listen to Big Sean’s album and, whatever the mood of the song is—if “One Man Can Change the World” plays, I want you to feel introspective and emotional; if “I.D.F.W.U.” comes on, I want you to feel energetic and happy; if “I Know” comes on, I want you to feel sexy; and if “Research” comes on, I want you to feel groovy and happy, and relate to it. Every song has a different mood.
There’s both a strong tradition and a current trend in hip-hop and rap of duet projects and albums. Kanye recently said he wants to do an album with Drake. Is there anyone you’d want to do a similar project with?
I feel like I could do one with Kanye, and it would be really good. I feel like I could do one with Drake, too. In terms of singers, I bet I could do one with Ariana. I could do one with Jhené Aiko. Every artist that I collaborate with, [there’s always a] natural chemistry, and it’s easy to do multiple songs with them.
How do you approach writing a verse?
Usually, if I hear the track, I do a reference to it. If I get inspired by an idea, or a beat, I’ll do a few lines, then record a few mumbles. I don’t really write any lyrics down on paper, I just do it in my head. Because when I write lyrics down on paper, it doesn’t allow me to play with the flow like I like to do, and toy with different rhyme schemes. So I just keep adding to it, and adding different flows and waves. Sometimes it takes a couple of hours, sometimes it takes days, and sometimes I’ll have to come back to a song months later to finish it.
Kanye outfitted you in Yeezy apparel for the big New York show. Did you have advance warning about that? Or did you just show up that day and he was like, “Here you go.”
He asked if we were down, and of course, we were like, “Hell yeah, we want to do this.” The clothes look real fukking cool. The only thing is that it was cold as shyt up there. It was brick cold. We had lights on stage that were hot, and heaters, but it was so cold. I thought, Damn, the people in the crowd are probably fukking dead right now. Literally frozen to death. But those were fun times, and I appreciate everyone’s dedication.
There are obvious upsides to being mentored by Kanye, in terms of the co-signs and features. But do you ever get tired of seeing “Big Sean talks about what it’s like to work with Kanye” headlines?
To be real honest, man, and this is no disrespect to you, but I don’t really care. Interviews are cool, and I’m respectful of them, but I don’t really do this shyt for that anyway. I do it for the fans, for the music. To keep it 100: if I didn’t ever have to do interviews, I wouldn’t be mad. For a writer to say your album is all right, and then for a kid to say, “I bought your album, and it was the best fukking thing in my life, and you changed my life; my grandmother died and ‘One Man Can Change the World’ really helped me”? What that kid says is more impactful than what any critic could write.
link
Big Sean Collapsed in Tears When His Album Was Released
but "one man can change the world" is truly the shinin' moment and the gem on the album. my god, sean hit home with that song
i just came across this really heartfelt and touchin' article and interview about the song as well as big sean's grandma. r.i.p. to his grandma
"At the precise moment that Detroit rapper Big Sean’s new album Dark Sky Paradise was released on Tuesday, he was alone in a hotel room in New York, taking advantage of a one-hour break from interviews and appearances meant to promote the record.
“I just felt so emotional, I just fell to my knees, and I was praying,” Sean told VF.com over the phone a few days later. “I was so thankful, and just crying. I felt like my grandmother was there with me. It was one of the craziest experiences that I have ever been through. I think I will remember that the most. I was just crying, and saying, ‘Thank you, God. Thank you, grandmother.’”
Sean's grandmother Mildred V. Leonard died on December 20, just days before he was scheduled to fly home and play her “One Man Can Change the World,” a song on the new album that features John Legend and Kanye West. Leonard was Sean’s personal hero, and he dedicated his verse on the song, which also features a sample of a conversation between the grandmother and grandson, to her.
“She was the backbone of the family, for sure,” Sean said. “She was born in West Virginia, she came up from nothing, she was one of the first female black captains in World War II, and she was a female police officer in Detroit. She was a teacher, and a counselor.”
“And she was just the best grandmother ever,” he continued. “Home-cooked meals after school all the time, birthday cakes, your favorite ones, every year. She was just great. She was the person who showed me that one man—meaning human—can change the world. I always said that she deserved to have John Legend sing about her after a verse that I rapped about her. I’m happy that it turned out, and that I got to get her voice on the song. She’s a special person. She’s seen Hitler and Obama in the same lifetime, and I just hope that one day I can make as big of an impact as she did.”
Which is all to say that it's been a long few months for Sean Anderson, 26, so allow him his hotel-room moment of catharsis. Though he is now three albums into his career, he’s still been known mostly to the general public as an understudy of Kanye West, who gave his career its first meaningful boost after a 2005 sidewalk audition and signed him two years later. Since then, Sean’s confident class-clown persona has gained traction on rap and pop radio, if not always with the critics. West’s co-sign has helped keep him in the public eye, where he has recently seemed more at home—especially after 2014’s ubiquitous kiss-off single “I.D.F.W.U.” and his recent romance with Nickelodeon princess turned pop divaAriana Grande. More than three years after dropping his first studio album, Finally Famous, in 2011, Sean sizes himself up on the Dark Sky Paradise track “Blessed”: “I think I’m famous enough.”
The new album features appearances by Grande, West, Drake, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne,E-40, Jhené Aiko, and Ty Dolla $ign. Much of it was recorded in a home studio Sean constructed for the project, in Detroit. VF.com spoke with him about Dark Sky Paradise, which he insisted is a reflection of his growth: “I definitely think I’m becoming a better man, and I’m just happy about that.”
VF Daily: You recorded the album in a studio you built from your house. How did you decide to do that, and did you face any hesitation from the label or other partners?
Big Sean: It was the best decision I ever made, personally and musically. I built a legit studio in my house—it’s not like I put a microphone in a room. I wanted to make a studio that was the same quality as the studios I was recording in. It has all the same equipment in it. It was perfect, because, if I wasn’t feeling the vibe, I could just walk out, go watch a movie in my house, and then come back to it. When you book a studio, you book it for a certain amount of time, and if in that time you’re not feeling the vibe, then you’re just wasting time and money. At home, I never felt that way, and it enabled me to be more productive. I didn’t have that pressure of spending that much of the label’s money each day.
And, on top of that, I got to live the music, because it was in my living environment. I would wake up at random times at night or during the day, and just get to it. I could take a nap, wake up, and get back to work. It wouldn’t work for everybody, but it really worked for me.
Who were some of the guests who actually came by the house to record?
Kanye did his verse of “All Your Fault” at his house. We were both there for that, but he was at my house working on “One Man Can Change the World.” John Legend recorded here, Jhené Aiko was here, Ty Dolla $ign, Ariana [Grande].
The album is very diverse, in terms of the vibes and moods of its songs. Was that a priority for you?
I wanted to make music that can change people’s whole mood. I want someone to listen to Big Sean’s album and, whatever the mood of the song is—if “One Man Can Change the World” plays, I want you to feel introspective and emotional; if “I.D.F.W.U.” comes on, I want you to feel energetic and happy; if “I Know” comes on, I want you to feel sexy; and if “Research” comes on, I want you to feel groovy and happy, and relate to it. Every song has a different mood.
There’s both a strong tradition and a current trend in hip-hop and rap of duet projects and albums. Kanye recently said he wants to do an album with Drake. Is there anyone you’d want to do a similar project with?
I feel like I could do one with Kanye, and it would be really good. I feel like I could do one with Drake, too. In terms of singers, I bet I could do one with Ariana. I could do one with Jhené Aiko. Every artist that I collaborate with, [there’s always a] natural chemistry, and it’s easy to do multiple songs with them.
How do you approach writing a verse?
Usually, if I hear the track, I do a reference to it. If I get inspired by an idea, or a beat, I’ll do a few lines, then record a few mumbles. I don’t really write any lyrics down on paper, I just do it in my head. Because when I write lyrics down on paper, it doesn’t allow me to play with the flow like I like to do, and toy with different rhyme schemes. So I just keep adding to it, and adding different flows and waves. Sometimes it takes a couple of hours, sometimes it takes days, and sometimes I’ll have to come back to a song months later to finish it.
Kanye outfitted you in Yeezy apparel for the big New York show. Did you have advance warning about that? Or did you just show up that day and he was like, “Here you go.”
He asked if we were down, and of course, we were like, “Hell yeah, we want to do this.” The clothes look real fukking cool. The only thing is that it was cold as shyt up there. It was brick cold. We had lights on stage that were hot, and heaters, but it was so cold. I thought, Damn, the people in the crowd are probably fukking dead right now. Literally frozen to death. But those were fun times, and I appreciate everyone’s dedication.
There are obvious upsides to being mentored by Kanye, in terms of the co-signs and features. But do you ever get tired of seeing “Big Sean talks about what it’s like to work with Kanye” headlines?
To be real honest, man, and this is no disrespect to you, but I don’t really care. Interviews are cool, and I’m respectful of them, but I don’t really do this shyt for that anyway. I do it for the fans, for the music. To keep it 100: if I didn’t ever have to do interviews, I wouldn’t be mad. For a writer to say your album is all right, and then for a kid to say, “I bought your album, and it was the best fukking thing in my life, and you changed my life; my grandmother died and ‘One Man Can Change the World’ really helped me”? What that kid says is more impactful than what any critic could write.
link
Big Sean Collapsed in Tears When His Album Was Released