I Decided. Album Review
Our first album review request at Breakfast and Jazz! This is a momentous occasion everyone! Please, keep these requests coming because I am ready to throw down my honest and somewhat educated opinion on any genre of music, new or old. Today we are talking about the latest release by Detroit rapper and member of Kanye's G.O.O.D Music label, Big Sean. The album, entitled I Decided. is the fourth studio album in Big Sean's discography and in my mind, his best to date. Now that doesn't necessarily mean that it is good... it certainly has some flaws in my mind, but it is Sean's most cohesive and original work.
Music vlogger and critic Anthony Fantano (http://www.theneedledrop.com/) often states that Big Sean is a poor man's Drake. They have similar flows, rhyme schemes, and in my opinion voice timbre. The I Decided. cut, "Owe Me", could have come right off of Drake's "Views" if only it had a few mentions of Toronto. Drake has obviously seen greater mainstream success, but he has previously admitted to have borrowed from Sean's sound.
Decide for yourself with "Blessings"
and before you click...understand that this is hip-hop and swears happen.
On "I Decided.", Big Sean is at his most mature and collected. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Big Sean described the album as, "having the wisdom of an old man while you're young". This concept came through with interspersed conversation with an older self. Besides these short conversations, the tracks didn't do as much to reinforce the concept. They were consistently solid as individual cuts though.
I enjoyed the entire first half of this album. "Light" and "Bounce Back" were standouts. "No Favors" won the first half for me because of the great beat along with a distastefully tasteful guest verse from Eminem. This was probably my favorite track on the album.
In the slightly less stellar second half, "Halfway Off The Balcony", was the best cut. This track jams and has a great Scarface reference so obviously it wins. The Migos' feature on "Sacrifices" didn't do much for me, surprisingly since I really enjoyed their highly anticipated Culture release last month. If you haven't caught "Bad and Boujee" or "T-Shirt" get on that immediately. In his Golden Globes acceptance speech, Donald Glover thanked not only all the black people in Atlanta, but also the Migos, whom he described as "the Beatles of this generation". I would pay attention if I were you.
But back to Big Sean.
I Decided. was a solid project and the best work to date from the Detroit rapper. Although he still seems to lack a style distinguishable from other more mainstream rappers such as Drake, Big Sean is certainly making progress and paying his dues in this new era of hip-hop in America.
I would give I Decided. a strong 7 out of 10.
Send some more album reviews my way and keep me busy!
