Album-Finally Famous
Artist-Big Sean
Lyrics B- Flow B+ Beats B+ Originality C+ Final Grade B-
After a year of waiting Big Sean is now Finally Famous, hence the name of his debut album that dropped Tuesday (June 28). The 23 year-old Detroit artist and G.O.O.D Music representative had the game waiting on his debut making it one of Hip Hop’s most anticipated albums in 2011.
Big Sean has already gained a buzz in the hip hop industry over the past two years with numerous volumes of mix tapes released with the same name of his debut album. His lyrics focus mainly on women, weed, sex, and money which are common with today’s younger artist but Sean’s witty and catchy punch lines separate him from the rest of the average. Plus, Sean does show the future some promise with some fluctuation of concepts throughout this album.
“The Intro” shows some thought was put into the debut, beginning where the last mix tape ended with the familiar piano riding “Memories”. “The Intro” establishes the Finally Famous concept for listeners who are not familiar with Sean’s work, and for those who are, it’s like he is Finally Famous every time he realizes he gets a chance to start a new project. It’s like the man never realizes he’s made it.
On the positive side, the album’s production is headlined by No I.D. (Jay-Z’s “D.O.A”,) on more than half of the album and as expected on the standout #1 single “My Last” with Chris Brown. Tracks like “Dance (A$$)” and “Marvin & Chardonnay” featuring Kanye West and Roscoe Dash are stuck-in-your-head, mainstream, party must-haves, though the album lacks that hidden banger you would expect to have due to the caliber of Sean’s mix tapes.
Features from John Legend on “Memories (Part II)” and Wiz Khalifa & Chiddy Bang on “High” make the album worth listening to due to the fact that John is simply a ‘do no wrong’ artist plus Wiz and Chiddy both brought their respective HTC laced flows to complement Sean’s perfectly. In his own right Sean does shine for his city on tracks like “I Do It” featured in the Adidas ad seen on T.V. regularly.
“100 Keys” featuring Rick Ross and Pusha-T is a song where one would expect Pusha and Ricky to thrive over a track with a trunk raping bass line focusing on cocaine. However, the most memorable part of the song belongs to Sean on the chorus where he comes in smooth and on point harmonizing “I’m from a big city, Tryna’ make a living /Come to my hood, Everybody get it/ And for that paper all the wrong things sound right/ Where I’m from they push a hundred keys and it sound like/” then the keys of the· piano drop perfectly followed by “Young niggas gettin’ money/young niggas gettin’ money / Just a bittersweet symphony.” With Sean coming from the Westside of Detroit the idea is just brilliant and creative to say the least.
To sum it all up, he still has room to grow to separate from the similar sounding next generation of Hip Hop artist. Though Big Sean doesn’t disappoint, with his debut he proves he is one of the elite. Now that he is Finally Famous, the future is looking bigger than Sean already is.
Here is the track list and production credits for Finally Famous
1. “Intro” (Produced by: Kevin Randolph, Key Wane)
2. “I Do It” (Produced by: No I.D., The Legendary Traxster)
3. “My Last” f/ Chris Brown (Produced by: No I.D.)
4. “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” (Produced by: No I.D.)
5. “Wait For Me” f/ Lupe Fiasco (Produced by: No I.D., Exile)
6. “Marvin & Chardonnay” f/ Kanye West & Roscoe Dash (Produced by: Pop Wansel, Mike Dean)
7. “Dance (A$$)” (Produced by: Da Internz)
8. “Get It (DT) f/ Pharrell” (Produced by: The Neptunes)
9. “Memories (Part II)” f/ John Legend (Produced by: No I.D.)
10. “High” f/ Wiz Khalifa & Chiddy Bang (Produced by: Xaphoon Jones)
11. “Live This Life” f/ The Dream (Produced by: No I.D.)
12. “So Much More” (Produced by: No I.D.)
13. “What Goes Around” (Bonus Track) (Produced by: No I.D.)
14. “Celebrity” f/ Dwele (Bonus Track) (Produced by: Filthy Rockwell, No I.D.)
15. “My House” (Bonus Track) (Produced by: Boi-1da)
16. “100 Keys” f/ Rick Ross & Pusha T (Bonus Track) (Produced by: Hilton and Brian Wright (WrighTrax Productions))
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