To hear Big Sean tell it, heās living in the Twilight Zone.
The concept behind his new album, the dramatically punctuated I Decided., plays out loosely in a handful of skits, but itās underlined plainly in the phone call between Sean and his mother that closes the album. At 28-years-old with three successful albums, deals with both Kanye West and Jay Z, and a penchant for romancing some of the baddest women in Hollywood, things are going so well for Big Sean that he is convinced he must be living out a second chance at life, his re-do.
As the album begins, a world-weary old man is too busy lamenting a wasted life to notice a car barreling towards him. Cue dreamy piano keys and Jeremihās ethereal voice. The man is reborn as Sean with his whole life ahead of him and renewed hope and energy to put on for himself and his city. Now he has the foresight to steer himself away from past mistakes and towards fixing old ones, and is set on making the most of it. Itās a concept that seems more fitting for a debut album than a fourth, and the fact that Sean is still dwelling on his success despite 10 years in the game and 6 since his first album says a lot about his state of mind.
Along with āNo More Interviews,ā the warning-shot loosie he dropped to start the hype machine, the bulk of I DecidedĀ features a subtext of arrogance and indignation beneath Seanās trademark affability. āāDamn Sean, what happened to the humble attitude?āā he mocks early on in the project on āNo Favors,ā before revealing the source of his frustration later in the verse: āHow many hot verses til you bitches start acknowledging the pictures we been painting?ā (No matter how mad Big Sean gets, itāll always be hard to register his tone as anything but casual; Eminemās presence gives the songās tone a much-needed snarling reinforcement.)
Big Sean works hard, and reminding us how hard he works has been a go-to trope of his since he problematically described his work ethic as grinding ā10 to 10 like a Mexican.ā But itās hard not to empathize with his feelings here; the narrative of a song like āBounce Backā rings true. He rebounded from a universally acknowledged sophomore slumpāreferences to being counted out are littered across Decidedāand returned not only with a better project but his best, critically and commercially. And still, the various superlatives reserved for rapās reigning class are only ever applied to his peers. The disdain on āNo More InterviewsāāāI canāt lie like I like this shit like I usually do...who you put in your top five and claim they the savior of rapāāwas tangible, and seemed to set the stage for a moody, almost petulant Sean on his fourth go-round.
But I Decidedās conclusion reveals heās already come out on the other side of that turmoil, and this album is him literally arcing out his path to enlightenment. Self-doubt and anxiety get a full showcase on āHalfway Off the Balconyā and āVoices in My Head/Stick to the Planā but only so that Sean can crash and rebuild by dialing in on whatās most important. āSunday Morning Jetpackā and āInspire Meā are both odes to family; āSacrificesā reckons with the compromise and loss required to stave off a fate like the Ghost of Detroit past, while also bigging up a girlāthe One Who (Had) Got Away he wins back earlier in the story on album standout āJump Out the Windowāāwilling to hold him down through it. By the time āBigger Than Me,ā Seanās best outro to date, rides out on the dulcet turnt hymns of putting on from the Flint Chozen Choir, Seanās character has achieved full-on spiritual repose, a peace we saw Sean achieve during the beginning of the albumās promo run. On The Tonight Show he added these bars to a live performance of āBounce Backā: āI decided that counting money never feel as good as counting blessings...I decided for the first time in my life no second guessing. I decided in this moment and time right now who the best is. I'm the best."
Itās a conviction reflected in the tracklist itself. Coming off of Hall of Fame, Dark Sky Paradise had to have blockbuster moments like Kanye and Drake on the same song, Chris and Ty Dolla $ign on another, and an Ariana Grande hook to secure all markets and attention. Having accomplished the goal of reassertion though, Seanās left to his own devices here, and feeling secure in his own abilities. The Rolodex of famous friends from GOOD/Roc family to popping peers remains largely untouched, short of an understandable reach out to the Migos. Successfully commanding our attention with his usual array of flows largely for dolo over production from personal go-tos like Key Wane and Amaire Johnson (who handles the bulk of the beats) as well as in-demand hitters like Metro Boomin, DJ Mustard, and DJ Dahi is a flex the album needed to truly underline Seanās ambitions. Your mileage may vary between this and DSPāthe latter has flashier moments for sure, but the songwriting in general feels stronger and more substantial here, particularly when comparing back halves.
On Dark Sky Paradiseās āDeep,ā Lil Wayne goes out of his way to reassure Sean his feelings of being underrated arenāt mere narcissismāāIs it because he aināt got the tattoos? He aināt throwin up signs?ā On his fourth album, Big Sean is made better by his definitive decision to stop dwelling on why he, to paraphrase Wayne, doesnāt always get enough shine, and just focus on doing.