Album Review: Big Sean- Finally Famous

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Overall Rating: 8/10

  

 1. Intro

 2. I Do It (7.5/10)

 3. My Last Ft. Chris Brown (10/10)

 4. Don’t Tell Me You Love Me (10/10)

 5. Wait For Me Ft. Lupe Fiasco (10/10)

 6. Marvin & Chardonnay Ft. Kanye West & Roscoe Dash (8/10)

 7. Dance (10/10)

 8. Get It Ft. Pherrell (9.5/10)

 9. Memories Pt.2 Ft. John Legend (10/10)

 10. High Ft. Wiz Khalifa & Chiddy Bang (9/10)

 11. Live This Life Ft. The Dream (8.5/10)

 12. So Much More (5/10)

 13. What Goes Around (3/10)

 14. Celebrity Ft. Dwele (6/10)

 15. My House (6/10)

 16. 100 Keas Ft. Rick Ross & Pusha T (4/10)

 17. Home (4/10)

 18. Not Good Enough (5/10)

   

     

    When I think of Detroit hip-hop, I usually think of Eminem, D12, Royce Da 5’9” and stuff like that. But it has never occurred to me to have a rapper from Detroit who has an Atlanta type flow, or a mixture of Midwest wordplay and southern influenced lyrics, until now, new Detroit rapper Big Sean rose to the occasion, bringing something different from Detroit, but at the same time a bit more familiar to somewhere else. So the question is: Is Sean being creative by trying to bring a different style to the motor city? Or is he just too affected by mainstream hip-hop? That can only be told by the overall quality of the album, and how the whole thing generally sounds and plays out. 

      

    

    Sean played it very simple in this album; the content in the album was really very simple and generally nothing special. Sean raps about sex, money, and being famous on most of the time, which is ok, but at the same time a bit of a downer because that just shows that he lacks creativity in the album. But at the other hand, it’s not a bad, or even a mediocre album at this case,  because unlike many other rappers out there, Sean manages to put in some strong wordplay and lyricism, plus he actually was able to really set out a party mood with this album, which is something many rappers fail to do when they talk about sex, money or fame, or anything that can go with a party mood.

      

     While there is not so much to really praise in the album, it must be noted that the production in the album was very powerful. The beats on the album where excellent, they’re not energy-filled electronic beats which are normally used in party music, they are really different, piano-based beats, but they do set a very powerful party mood thanks to their vibes and style. Some of the tracks that had the best party mood due to the beat where “My Last” which was generally solid with a very catchy hook, “Dance” was something very powerful, lyrically the strong flows perfectly with its rhymes, and I loved the Can’t Touch This sample, and “Get It” which was about making money, really is made of a strong beat and an excellent flow more than anything else.

     

     The album was really just a bit more than party tracks and great beats; he did have some great, meaningful tracks.  “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” was one of my favorites, it was about Sean not being so sure whether he love a girl, or he just wants sex with her, the concept was supported with one of the best beats on the album and an extremely enjoyable flow. “Wait For Me” featured Lupe Fiasco, it was about both Sean and Lupe talking about people leaving them and really just growing without them. “High” was a party track, but with more of a concept, it talks about getting high to avoid problems and getting away from them. “Memories Pt.2” is more of less a sequel to the first version of Memories which was in his last mixtape, and it kinda talks about the same thing more or less, which is the fact that he will be remembering each and every one of his moments before reaching fame. “Not Good Enough” was more or less a failure, the beat was mediocre and Sean’s flow makes it difficult to listen to the lyrics, and “Home” talks about his home town Detroit, and it was one of the most disappointing tracks on the album, it wasn’t nearly as good as most of the other meaning full tracks on the album.

       

      Strong beats don’t make excellent tracks, that should be kept in mind, especially in this album because there were some tracks here that had great beats, but where not great tracks. “My House” was a perfect example of a track like that, it was extremely lazy lyrically, the flow wasn’t even that good, and “100 Keas” faced the same issue, great beat, but otherwise nothing really enjoyable.

       

      I have to admit, Finally Famous exceeded my expectations as an album. The content was more or less what I thought it would be, his flow and wordplay was mostly on right on Q and the production added so much value to the album. Honestly I thought the album wouldn’t be as good as the music on his mixtapes, due to having an actual major release. But most tracks did, which is really good, but as for the bad side of the album there was a bit of a lack of creativity and a few poor tracks on the album, but even with that small lack of creativity this is still a great, and fun album.