Big Sean's sixth studio album, three years after his last, is a follow-up to his 2012 tape. The production is mainly made by Hit-Boy, Kay Wayne, Roger Chahayed and Teddy Walton, to which are added Cool & Dre, Boi-1da, DJ Dahi, Mike Will Made It, DJ Mustard, No ID, DJ Khalil, the same Big Sean and other unknown beatmakers. Guests include Nispey Hussle, Post Malone, Ty Dolla Sign, Jhené Aiko, Dwele, Anderson Paak, Young Thug, Travis Scott, Diddy, Lil Wayne, Boldy James, 5'9" Royce, Eminem and Dom Kennedy, among the others.
The production of these twenty different beatmakers, on the whole, is average, with simplistic features, but it's also melodic and this helps to lighten the sound and widen the accessibility of the MC offering, while its bars fall smoothly on snare drums. Big Sean's lyricism has never been the strong point of his efforts, but here he feels more inspired than usual and brings out some good lyrics, with more mature, socio-conscious and political stanzas, as well as his usual braggadocio and vicious themes. The rapper shows an immaculate flow, sometimes he chooses to sing, but he impresses only few times.
Among the guests, Nipsey's verse is evidently incomplete, Post Malone sounds mediocre as usual, Dwele, Young Thug and Dom Kennedy add nothing to their songs, while Ty Dolla Sign seems superfluous in the rnb cut "Body Language", which is a natural TWENTY88 piece. Anderson Paak gives one of the best moments of the record with his performance, Travis Scott and Diddy light up their songs and Lil Wayne kills his spot. Keeping the first 12-13 tracks with the addition of the song with Weezy and the posse, this would have been a solid album that could have contended for Sean's best record title alongside "Dark Sky Paradise". Instead the album stretches to 21 tracks, over 71 minutes, and doesn't reach that classic: it's an ultra-bloated and erratic pop rap record, Big Sean celebrates Detroit for over an hour, but lends the side to rnb fillers, boring and forgettable choices, and some slips (the anti-vax, anti-traditional medicine, anti-science bars).
Among the strongest tunes of the edition, there are three in particular. "Don Life" boasts a splendid sample from a classic, Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", here trapped by a tight and frantic drum; the producer often takes it off to make space for Sean's smoothness hardcore bars, in one of his best performances of the album, on the finest rhythm of the LP; Lil Wayne is also doing very well without autotune on this beat.
The "Friday Night Cypher" posse lasts nearly ten minutes, but is among the obligatory highlights: of the first eight rappers present I've only listened to Boldy James and 42 Dugg, but in summary they disappoint everyone with casual and scarce performances on a mediocre beat of Hit-Boy, a dude who in 2020 had beats on albums by Jay Electronica, Lil Baby, Nas, Conway the Machine and Benny the Butcher, and always hugely disappointed, running hard for the worst producer of the year. Among the performers, Boldy James also disappoints, with a subdued rapping. Sean is better than those who preceded him with a slow flow, before accelerating on an elegant piano and stressful drum machine.
The hardcore bars of Sada Baby lead the way for Royce's excellent verse and Eminem's extra-verse, which closes the song with what is practically his own track, braggadocio, where he says in summary that he's the best of all. Summing up: Royce in front of everyone, followed by Big Sean, then Eminem. Once Marshall needed just under eight bars to obscure everyone in a posse, today in three minutes he can't say anything, struggling to stay at the level of the best. Last, but not least, Dave Chappelle: Big Sean gave away three skits, one each for Chappelle, Erikah Badu and Stevie Wonder, the revered comedian not only takes full advantage of his two minutes, he brings out what can easily be called as the best moment in the whole album.
Highlights: "Story by Dave Chappelle", "Guard Your Heart", "Lithuania", "Full Circle", "Don Life", "Friday Night Cypher".
Rating: 6.5/10.
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