Growth can be a double-edged sword in rap. Even the upcoming N.W.A biopic can’t undo the damage of Are We There Yet? Sean Michael Leonard Anderson, better known as Big Sean, is a far way from Ice Cube’s gangsta-turned-family man fate, but he is growing up. A serendipitous meeting with Kanye West a decade ago eventually led to three successive recording contracts: first with GOOD Music in 2007, through signing the following year with Def Jam Recordings, up to his most recent deal with Roc Nation.
Big Sean seemed to carve a path for other Detroit artists like Danny Brown and DeJ Loaf. But things never were quite on fleek for Sean as might be expected, especially given the pedigree and reputation of the names surrounding him, not only on work bearing his own name, but also on guest spots it felt he was offered as a matter of course and not based on his own merits. It’d been a long time since Sean first spit those 16 bars for Kanye; he now appeared more interested in swapping spit with Ariana Grande.
Grande is a fitting partner as far as growth goes (although their relationship has both been called “very serious” and “a publicity stunt”), yet even if the course Sean is taking eventually deviates significantly from his paramour’s, on his third studio album Dark Sky Paradise, the rapper comes into his own and claims his moment, much like Grande did on last year’s My Everything.
Dark Sky Paradise flits between Sean’s grown-up aspirations and his goofball “ass”-pirations (“Blessings”: “I done lost homies who been with me since Ed, Edd, and Eddy/ Who flip like confetti,” “I Know”: “You need to be taken care of and pampered/ But just like a Pamper, he on that childish shit”), yet this balancing act surprisingly works in Sean’s favor, showing he’s comfortable with uncertainty. Does the record reveal more of the true Sean Michael Leonard Anderson? Are all the guest appearances just another calculated distraction or a way to prop up thin material? What about that title tho?
Dark Sky Paradise brings up multiple unresolved lines of inquiry like this, and its greatest virtues lie in Big Sean’s flow, which beats everyone to the punch concerning anything about his life. While he’s not quite gone all the way confessional, the Lil Wayne collab “Deep” may come closest in (holy) spirit. Furthermore, he offers up showy hip-hop lyricism the likes of which we haven’t seen since sophomore album Hall of Fame. Big Sean’s court jester persona has given way to something approaching the real deal.
Yet “Stay Down” betrays its name and shows the young man still working toward that ideal (“Okay, I ain’t that fucked up, but I’m halfway/ We came a long way from the alley”). “Dark City (Skyscrapers)” is also electrifying in its tale of a life that feels stuck but still able to see the possibility of success on the horizon. (“I should’ve known back then I wasn’t gonna stop/ ‘Cause even then I was infatuated with just sitting at the top.”) Only time will tell if this is prophecy.
Big Sean’s music radiates true power at times, as on “I Don’t Fuck With You,” which was released online in September with three other tracks, and has become the artist’s biggest hit to date. His voice is usually an elastic rubber band, yet here he was delivering a hook with the knockout force of a heavyweight champion. Big Sean doesn’t get much better than this, but he comes close; Dark Sky Paradise is full of tracks that pack a real wallop.
Continuing in the spirit of his prior efforts, Big Sean calls upon a motley crew of collaborators to lend production or guest appearances. There’s Drake, whom Sean has said he’d be interested in doing a joint album with: “Look, I ain’t gon’ say that we back or nothing/ ‘Cause that implies that we’re back from something.” There’s former mentor Kanye, nearly stealing the spotlight on “All Your Fault”: “People sayin’ I’m the closest thing to Mike since Janet, whoo.” And there’s Chris Brown: “I ain’t like them other n****s/ And I ain’t ‘bout to play no games with you.”
With Dark Sky Paradise, there are no more games left to be played, and the album features the bleakest beats of Big Sean’s career. The production is mostly supervised by Sean’s larger-than-life coach Kanye West, who imbues the record with the corroded soul of Yeezy season approaching. DJ Mustard figures prominently too, not only on “I Don’t Fuck With You,” but also on the thundering agony and ecstasy of “I Know,” featuring Jhene Aiko’s forlorn vocal runs.
On the penultimate cut “One Man Can Change the World,” producers Amaire Johnson and Mike Otoo provide just enough scaffolding for Big Sean, Kanye West, and John Legend to scale dizzying new heights. Over a dozen tracks, the album incorporates soulful R&B, hardcore rap, and even flashes of pop into the mix without sacrificing the moody atmosphere, sinuous arrangements, or brooding attitude established by Big Sean and his team of fellow artists.
It remains to be seen whether or not Big Sean “is there yet,” but with the release of Dark Sky Paradise, there’s reason to believe that whatever direction he’s going (or growing), for now he’s having a moment and counting everyone one of his “Blessings.” His debut’s title, Finally Famous, wasn’t quite right; the rapper had floundered too often in the shadow of other people’s talents, while downplaying his own formidable strengths in favor of a supporting role.
With his new album, Sean dresses for the part he was meant to inhabit from the jump, a witty but worthy player in rap game; he gets to prove that it was no mere coincidence that he had a life-altering meeting with Kanye West ten years ago, but that it was pre-ordained. It was destiny. One man could and did change his world. But as the title of Dark Sky Paradise implies, even Heaven can’t last forever. Big Sean is growing up, and it’s time for this one man to change the world. He’s already taken the first step.
Stream Dark Sky Paradise below: