CV: Big Sean, Dark Sky Paradise

For as long as Big Sean has been a household name in hip hop, it has never seemed that his body of work merits his success. Indeed, the Detroit rapper has been the beneficiary of Kanye’s blessing and of an inflammatory verse from Kendrick Lamar on Sean’s single “Control.” While his third album Dark Sky Paradise is never groundbreaking, it finds success by portraying a more emotional, seasoned Big Sean than any of his earlier projects.

Unlike the album’s much publicized and circulated lead single titled, “I Don’t Fuck With You,” the majority of Dark Sky Paradise portrays a vulnerable, yet confident Big Sean at a crossroads, both in his personal life and in his career. The album has an A-list production crew featuring West and pop-rap kingmakers DJ Mustard and Mike WiLL Made-It, who create an eclectic array of beats, underlined by a groovy guitar track on “Outro” and understated 808 kick drums on “Win Some, Lose Some.”

The album’s second track, “Blessings,” featuring Drake, expresses some disillusionment with the proverbial hip hop “grind,” culminating in the Canadian star’s emotive hook, “I ain’t had a good time in a long time.” In the following track, “All Your Fault,” however,  Kanye arrives on the scene in all his crass, Benz-pushing glory.  The track ends with, “I ain’t satisfied bein’ on that top 5 list / I ain’t satisfied until I’m on that all-time list / ‘Til everything I spit is timeless.”

The second half of the album  takes on a more somber tone. “I Know” and “Deep,” bolstered repsectively by Jhené Aiko’s soulful vocals and powerful verses from Lil Wayne, deal with Big Sean’s past relationships. These deeper themes allow Dark Sky Paradise to avoid becoming a collection of corny one-liners without any cohesive vision. Unfortunately, the LP retains some of Big Sean’s trademark cringe-worthy bars, like  “When your stars align / You do like the solar system and ‘plan it’ out,” in, “Blessings.”

Still, Dark Sky Paradise is undoubtedly the most conceptually realized and emotionally invested album of Big Sean’s discography, and couples airtight production and more introspective lyrics which portray the evolution of Big Sean’s sonic and stylistic aims. At the end of the day, that’s something that I will f**k with.

Voice’s Choices: “All Your Fault,” “Paradise”