Big Sean – I Decided (Album Review)

 The popular saying is “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”, but there’s also a saying “You can’t give what you don’t have”. Talent is whatever skill an individual has and it is to be worked with.

   There is no denying that Big Sean has had a career largely filled with wins, majority of which stem from his desire and hard work to get better and avert his losses. Dark Sky Paradise, his most urgent body of work showed massive improvements from his largely passable previous studio albums. DSP explored Big Sean as a person and artist in his own right, not the class clown sidekick to a superstar rapper. On DSP, Sean didn’t kick against his instincts rather he retooled them, investing in making an album with a cohesive feel rather than a collection of high aiming songs filled with juvenile punchlines that become less charming with every listen. Big Sean proved that he was a better artist.

  With his new album I Decided, his motivation is to be proclaimed and acclaimed as the best rapper among his peers. A well founded motivation which sadly falls flat in execution.

It is understandable that Big Sean has grown as an artist but taking himself way too serious is what essentially pulls I Decided from flying. In his attempt to be taken serious, Sean introduces a concept that isn’t displayed in the essence of some of the individual songs especially in the mixed bag of contemporary R&B based cuts in the album’s mid-section. Some other times, he blocks his natural tendencies opting to switch off instead of holding back the excesses. A very clear example is the two part cut ‘Voices in my head/Stick to the plan’, after spending majority of the song dragging over a beat begging to be broken, he finally unleashes a double time flow close to the end to try and salvage the track. Even the well-meaning ode to his mother ‘Inspire me’ finds a way to dig a new hole with Sean’s lazy seriousness oozing a lack of emotion coupled with a bland lyrical display over a generic beat that the goodwill is lost in execution. When Big Sean finally finds a juicy centre on ‘No Favours’, Eminem’s mechanical and played out verse on almost unravels all the good work Sean did in the first verse.

The best spots on the album occur when Sean acknowledges his triumphs which allow his natural instincts shine instead of dwelling on whatever unseen failure he’s running from. The production on the noteworthy songs lean toward his pop tendencies and Sean lets his matured man mix with his inner child lyrically. The light air surrounding the warm bounce on the first single ‘Bounce Back’ is perfectly matched with his animated flow and his playful but witty wordplay - “If I lose 1, I bounce back like 23 did with 45”.  The minimal piano gloss of ‘Light’ works well enough to let Big Sean revel in his triumph - “Ye found a pro/I guess I’m profound in this bitch”. Nostalgia fuelled Lyrics describe solemn elation on the snappy soul cut featuring The-Dream, ‘Sunday Morning Jetpack’, the spiritual successor to DSP standout ‘One Man can Change the World’.

I Decided largely sidesteps Big Sean strengths and exposes his weaknesses. It isn’t the definitive album Big Sean was aiming for neither will it push him past his position in the conversation of the best rapper of his generation.

Tracklist
1. Intro
2. Light ft. Jeremih
3. Bounce Back
4. No Favors ft. Eminem
5. Jump Out the Window
6. Moves
7. Same Time Pt. 1 ft. Twenty88
8. Owe Me
9. Halfway Off the Balcony
10. Voices in My Head/Stick to the Plan
11. Sunday Morning Jetpack ft. The-Dream
12. Inspire Me
13. Sacrifices ft. Migos
14. Bigger Than Me ft. Flint Chozen Choir 

Download  HERE 

Writer’s rating: 2.9/5
Words by Peter Adedotun Dennis (@ayo_dennis