I decided to listen to Big Sean’s highly anticipated fourth studio album, “I Decided”, and it was one of the best decisions I have made in a long time.
The Detroit MC explains the story of the album in an interview with Jimmy Fallon. Sean says, “Imagine you going through life and you made all the wrong decisions your whole life… then imagine something happens and you get one chance to redo it all.” This idea is depicted on the album cover, which showcases Big Sean parallel to an older version of himself. Throughout the album he continues to motivate his listeners to make the right decisions in their lives, and to live as if this was their second chance to get it right. This motivation to inspire is prevalent throughout the album, especially in songs like “Voices in my head/ Stick to the plan” and “Sunday Morning Jetpack.”
Not only does Big Sean flow a conscious message within his rhymes, but he does so in a such a way that even club Djs can’t help but rock with it. A good example of songs that you’ll be hearing on your night out are “Moves” and “Bounce Back.” Make sure to add those to your hip hop party playlists. With everything going on in the album, Big Sean still finds room to write songs for the special women in his life. The song “Same Time pt. 1” featuring his girlfriend Jhene Aiko, rolls in about halfway through the album with a noticeably slower tempo and is definitely worth consideration for your Date Night playlist.
Sean also writes a song inspired by his mother entitled, “Inspire Me.” This song is very personal and contains a message reminiscent to the message in “Hey Mama” by his mentor Kanye West. Unfortunately Mr. West does not make an appearance on his protege’s album, but, another hip hop legend does. Big Sean was able to obtain a verse from one of the best to ever do it, the one, the only, Eminem. Slim Shady appears on Track 4 entitled “No Favors” and goes absolutely ballistic with his rapid fire rhyme style and bottomless vocabulary. Em definitely proves why he is considered to be the G.O.A.T by many hip hop historians, and Big Sean keeps up with the legend bar for bar.
This definitely aids the argument that Big Sean should be considered one of the best of all time. Big Sean is making a statement with his latest album; he is tired of being underrated. He wants his name to be mentioned with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Eminem. Do I think Big Sean deserves to be in the top 5 discussion? It was a tough decision, but after listening to this album packed with dope beats, smooth flow, sick rhymes and a positive, inspirational message, I decided.
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