“The Don” is back and better than ever.
After remaining relatively quiet for the past two years in his solo work since the release of his “Dark Sky Paradise” in February of 2015, “Sean Don” has made big noise since the calendar changed to 2017. In the two years since “Dark Sky Paradise”, Big Sean has released a minimal amount of loose singles but has a collaboration album, “TWENTY88″, with Jhene Aiko whom is currently dating Big Sean. Big Sean may have released more music in 2016 had he not been victim to a burglary in his Los Angeles home in the fall of 2015. While traveling in Dubai, thieves made off with a safe that was filled with jewelry that amounted to about $150,000 and a hard-drive that contained unreleased music of Big Sean’s. This setback appears to have taken about a year of his career from him but his releases and talent have stuttered one bit.
After a patient wait, fans of Big Sean like myself have been treated to some of Big Sean’s best work yet with the release of, “I Decided” on February 3rd. The album is filled with high-profile features Jeremih, Migos, Jhene Aiko, The-Dream, and rap god/ fellow Detroit native Eminem. Fans were surprised on Halloween of last year with the single, “Bounce Back”, which was later revealed to be the lead single for his fourth studio album. Big Sean seems much more inspirational in this work than he has in past projects. According to Big Sean himself, the main concept behind “I Decided”, relates to the idea of rebirth, which is at least partially a result from the burglary but also from inspiration from old Motown artists and their ability to move people to loosen up and have a good time and have people do better by listening to the music.
If you’re someone who enjoys music videos and especially videos with aesthetically pleasing visual effects then the music videos for his songs, “Moves” and “Bounce Back”. I am more partial to the “Moves” video but I enjoy both and think they both are high quality music videos.
If you haven’t listened to the album in its entirety, I highly recommend doing so. I also recommend listening to the album and every album that you like or want to hear, from front to back without skipping from one to the next or shuffling. This is my favorite thing to do especially when a new album first comes out and maybe only once ever for the particular album but it is enjoyable to see how the album progresses and the story that the artist is telling.
If you aren’t the person who enjoys listening to the full album or don’t have the time to do so, then here are several of my personal favorites of this album that I would recommend you listen.
1. “Sacrifices” featuring Migos
2. “No Favors” featuring Eminem
3. “Moves”
4. “Jump Out The Window”
5. “Halfway Off The Balcony”
Enjoy! Let me know what your favorite song or aspect of this album is in the comments!