For those who have kept up with Big Sean over the years, his abilities are just as apparent as his status as a walking Popsicle joke. So it comes as no surprise that he’s still received as a walking punch line. On one hand, there’s the ass quake/ass-tate/ass tray triptych has become the prevailing impression of Sean’s sense of humor, and on the other, he’s sought acclaim for his abilities as a rapper. It’s a noble pursuit, considering that he’s shown flashes of brilliance in that department in the past. However, his last album, Hall of Fame, was an outright failure. This time around, Big Sean has done a solid job rolling out his album with strong singles and an eye for critical relevance.
As it turns out, the hype is to be believed. Dark Sky Paradise is simultaneously his best pop album and his best rap album. The Chris Brown hook on “Play No Games” sums up his mission statement: “I want you to take me serious.” And although Sean pulls a page out of the 2014 Forest Hills Drive book with the conversation after “Win Some, Lose Some”, he’s usually showing why you should like him more than telling you that you should. Big Sean’s machine gun raps are sharper and the production here is the best that he has had to work with. “Blessings” and “I Don’t Fuck with You” are two of rap’s strongest singles of the last six months. Most important, however, is Kanye West’s fingerprint looming on this album as large as it ever has, with contributions to standouts “All Your Fault,” “I Don’t Fuck with You,” and “One Man Can Change The World”, with Yeezy tag teaming with DJ Mustard behind the boards and providing some protest bars.
Still, bad habits are hard to shake and Big Sean has those in spades. For starters, he has a propensity to rap like he’s reading really fast (“Deep”, “Dark Sky (Skyscrapers)”). He’s also a notorious cornball, which is why his take on a law suit is detrimental to a song that, to put it lightly, is a tad more grave than “Dance (A$$).” Moreover, Big Sean has yet to figure out a way to be ambitious without being a try-hard. That’s fine because he’s closer to that ideal than scores of more talented rappers and pop sensibilities that run laps around other rappers perceived to be on his level. He doesn’t possess the cultural cachet to completely mask his deficiencies as an artist either. Where Kendrick Lamar can get by on talking fast, Drake by being everywhere, and Kanye can coast on his artistic reputation, Sean doesn’t have any merits on which to rest. This is the best album offering from Big Sean by default and even this suffers from weaknesses that he’s obviously worked on, as well as poor sequencing.
While Best Big Sean Album is not a title that holds much weight, there’s a reason “Most Improved” awards exist. Dark Sky Paradise is leagues better than his last album, giving a little material to prove that Big Sean belongs in a world where critics are more forgiving to pop stars. The settings for the game might be a little easier but Big Sean is really trying by making more inspired music, rather than constantly telling his detractors that he’s slept on or that he has to dumb it down for his audience. This is still the same Big Sean from Finally Famous, but as 26-year-olds wont to do, he’s making strides to get better at his job.
Rating: 3/5