Big Sean
Real Name: Sean Anderson
D.O.B.: March 25, 1988 Santa Monica, California
Label: G.O.O.D. Music, Def Jam Recordings
Big Sean signed with Kanye West’s GOOD Music in 2007, and then in 2008 signed with Def Jam Recordings through his label Finally Famous.
Early History
Born in Santa Monica, California, Anderson grew up in Southwest Detroit and was raised by his mother and grandparents. He attended Detroit Waldorf School and graduated from Cass Technical High School. In his later years in high school, Sean gained a valuable relationship with Detroit hip hop station WHTD; he would show his rhyming skills on a weekly basis as part of a rap battle contest held by the station. In 2005, Kanye West was doing a radio interview at 102.7 FM. Hearing about this, Sean headed over to the station to meet West and perform some free-style. Initially Kanye was reluctant to hear the emcee, however he gave Sean 16 bars to rap for him, eventually according to Big Sean “As we get to the entrance of the radio station … we stopped in the middle of the doorway. He starts looking at me and bobbing his head,”. He left a demo-tape as well. Two years later, West finally signed Big Sean to GOOD Music.
Mixtapes (2007-2010)
On September 31, 2007, Big Sean released his first official mixtape Finally Famous: The Mixtape. His hit single, “Get’cha Some”, produced by WrighTrax, attained media attention and led to articles in The Source and the Detroit Metro Times. He also recorded a music video for “Get’cha Some”, which was directed by Hype Williams. Sean released a second mixtape hosted by Mick Boogie on April 16, 2009, called UKNOWBIGSEAN. It featured the songs “Million Dollars”, “Get’cha Some” and “Desire, Want, Need”. This mixtape includes 30 tracks. Sean released a third mixtape hosted by Don Cannon on August 31, 2010 called Finally Famous Vol. 3: BIG. Features include Bun B, Chip tha Ripper, Curren$y, SAYITAINTTONE, Tyga, Drake, Mike Posner, Suai, Chuck Inglish, Asher Roth, Dom Kennedy, Boldy James, and Chiddy Bang. The mixtape includes 20 tracks.
Finally Famous (2010-present)
It will be Sean’s debut album and has been rumored to include features from Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Wiz Khalifa, Game, Chiddy Bang, Pusha T of Clipse, Drake, Malak, Tyga and Mike Posner with production from Kanye West, Malak, Jeff Bhasker, Mike Posner, No I.D., The Olympicks, Tricky Stewart, Chiddy Bang member Xaphoon Jones and The Neptunes. An unauthorized leak of his collaboration with Drake, called “Made” made its way onto the internet on April 30, 2010. In an interview with TheHipHopUpdate.com on May 1, Big Sean expressed his disappointment over the leak, calling it an unfinished version both musically and verse wise. Big Sean’s official Facebook page confirmed that his début album Finally Famous & Consequence’s Cons TV would be released on September 14, 2010. On August 31, Big Sean tweeted that the album was not coming out on that day, but it would be coming out sometime in 2011. In a recent interview on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio, he discussed the role Kanye West and No I.D. have had in the development of the album’s sonic direction as well as the challenges of being inside the studio with West. The album’s lead single “My Last”, features vocals from Chris Brown and is produced by No I.D. Big Sean has finally been granted a release date for his début album Finally Famous, which is now scheduled to arrive in stores on June 21 2011.
Style and Clothing
In late October 2008, Big Sean was featured in The Source and headlined the “Style” section of the magazine. In the article Sean talks about his own personal style and states that his favourite clothing brands are 10. Deep, Billionaire Boys Club, and Bape. Big Sean also posed in the Winter 2008 Billionaire Boys Club lookbook. Big Sean is also a consistent representative of Ti$A clothing and hats, along with Chris Brown and Tyga. Ti$A is a vintage company run by fellow G.O.O.D Music recording artist Taz Arnold. Big Sean is also a follower of the Rosewood clothing style. He also wears apparel from “Al Dente” clothing, ‘Ambush POW’ Rings and chains which he wears in a lot of his music videos.
Discography:
