Big Sean

Detroit rapper Big Sean channels the unwavering focus that propelled figures such as the Notorious B.I.G., Kanye West, and Eminem, emerging as a defining presence with several platinum-certified albums. Affiliated with the Def Jam imprint GOOD Music, he began racking up successes with his opening studio album, the 2011 release Finally Famous, whose title reflected his ascent. Commercial momentum continued through subsequent projects, generating chart-topping singles and records that stretched from that debut through his fifth album, Detroit 2, which surfaced in 2020. An EP with Hit-Boy arrived the next year under the title What You Expect, while 2022 brought guest spots on singles by Queen Naija and Ellie Goulding. The track “Precision,” an early look at his sixth album Better Me Than You, surfaced in 2024.

Sean Anderson entered the world in California yet grew up in Detroit, where he secured a 2007 recording deal with Kanye West’s newly launched GOOD Music. The connection formed at a local hip-hop station when Anderson attempted to catch West’s attention with his freestyle abilities; the performance led West to extend a contract and arrange the rapper’s introductory mixtape, Finally Famous, Vol. 1, which appeared that same year. A follow-up volume reached listeners in 2009, and a third installment followed in 2010.

His first proper studio album, Finally Famous, arrived in 2011 and included the single “My Last” featuring Chris Brown. The project entered the Billboard 200 at number three, while later that year “Dance (A$$)” featuring Nicki Minaj marked his initial entry into the pop Top Ten. Hall of Fame appeared in 2013, still under GOOD Music, and showcased contributions from Lil Wayne, Minaj, Nas, and Miguel; it also peaked at number three on the pop chart. Early 2015 brought Dark Sky Paradise, which again assembled high-profile guests including returning names Kanye West, John Legend, and Lil Wayne alongside Drake, Ariana Grande, and E-40. The set contained the pop-charting single “I Don't Fuck with You” (also known as “I Don't Mess with You”), launched at number one on the Billboard 200, and earned platinum status.

After appearing on several tracks—including fellow Detroiter DeJ Loaf’s platinum-certified “Back Up,” the Cruel Winter standout “Champions,” and DJ Khaled’s “Holy Key”—Big Sean released “Bounce Back,” which climbed into the Billboard rap Top Ten during 2016. That year also saw the joint album TWENTY88 with singer Jhené Aiko, which debuted at the summit of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. His fourth studio effort, I Decided, followed in early 2017 and became his second number-one Billboard 200 release. In the ensuing months he joined 21 Savage and Metro Boomin on “Pull Up N Wreck,” contributed to Calvin Harris’s “Feels” alongside Pharrell Williams and Katy Perry, and appeared with Coldplay on “Miracles (Someone Special).” He closed the year with the collaborative album Double or Nothing alongside Metro Boomin.

Two years passed before new material emerged. Singles arrived throughout summer 2019 as work continued on the full-length tentatively titled Detroit 2, originally planned for April 2020. August brought the album’s lead single “Deep Reverence,” which featured a cameo from the late Nipsey Hussle, followed days later by “Harder Than My Demons.” Detroit 2 landed in September and ascended directly to number one. The next year Big Sean reunited with longtime associate Hit-Boy for the single “What a Life,” then issued the five-track EP What You Expect in October, which contained cuts such as “Loyal to a Fault” featuring Bryson Tiller and Lil Durk. “Hate Our Love” with Queen Naija and “Easy Lover” with Ellie Goulding both appeared in 2022. In 2024 Big Sean unveiled “Precision,” the opening single from his sixth album Better Me Than You, which had been slated for mid-August but faced repeated postponements tied to rollout logistics.