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1. 12/2/16 Mia Westwood Big Sean
If 2 years ago, the name Big Sean was mentioned, you’d be rightin thinking“Who?” But after only releasinghis
firststudio albumlastyear,BigSean has crashed into a very comfortable spotwithin the music industry.This
success hasn’ttaken anyone by more surprisethan BigSean himself - with him thinkinghe’s either died and
gone to heaven or smoked too much of his spliff.Havingperformed at prestigious events such as Madison
Square Gardens and iHeartRadio Festival,it’s surprisinghehasn’t sold outWembley Stadium... Although, that
is his next ambition.Sat dressed in a hoody and baggy jeans that matched his calmand collected personality,
Big Sean appeared dressed to go grocery shoppingnot to recall his riseto stardom.
Despite the fact he can be intimidating ata firstglance,Big Sean admits he has a “big heart” yet has never had
a Valentine, to all our surprise.He’s a man of many words and this began at a young age as he states “I’ve
always had a passion for rhymingand it was a way to express myself.” This is certainly demonstrated in his
latestalbum'Dark Paradise' and there's no holdingback in his lyrics makinghimwidely appreciated amongst
his idols such asKanyeWest. "I used his (Kanye's) raps as inspiration and nowhe has his own input into
majority of my tracks." Not everyone enjoyed Sean's explicitcontent with song titles such as 'I Don't F**k with
You' being seen as too crude for the music industry.Feelingdisheartened, it seemed it'd be difficult for himto
be the biggest Sean he wanted to be and he admits this "I didn't mind my music not being mainstream, as long
as itwas speakingto people who needed it."
Throughout his career,he's stayed humble even though his success didn'tcome all thateasily!Some may
argue that his bleak background may’ve hindered this;however Sean says "The brutality of the neighbourhood
I was in gave me a rawoutlook of lifeI could use in my raps."This guy isn'tyour regular rapper with such a
happy-go-lucky personality thatnot even an illegal high could explain.Thatbeingsaid,his currents ettings are
on a rooftop overlookingthe sunny afternoon sky of California.As well as,beingon tour with the likes of
Rihanna and The Weeknd (which leaves us to have littlesympathy for his past),now he's livingany 20 year
old's dream.
As soon as BigSean was pointed out to his current producer,Kanye West, the amount of potential he had was
clear and within six months his single'Guap' was his claimto success.Fromthere, his riseto fame has been
nothing but up and doesn't seem to have any plans of coming to a haltany time soon. After his startled
beginningin life, currently,his lifeis goingsmoother than he is atrappingand that's hard to beat! As smooth
as his character seems,he's only justgetting to grips with his alter ego of BigSean as he rubs his chin and
explains "I mean itfeels likesuch a transition fromjustJosh Phipps and it's one that will never get boringto
me." Trying to pin point the moment Big Sean made itwas hard to identify... Was ithavingall threeof his
singles in the Billboard singlechart? Was itwhen he collaborated with Chris Brown on his album? Both
moments aretoo iconic to decipher between and give the crown to a clear winner. But to have achieved both
of those before the age of 21 is definitely somethingthat hasn'tgone un-noticed by us here at Element
magazine.
He has no-one to thank but himself havingset up his own Soundcloud accountand uploadinghis own content
from justa loopingmachinebut obviously,he continues to be modest "My mom bought all thatstuff though,
the laptop,the loopingmachineand we didn't have the money for it, but she made sureshe did justfor me to
be happy." Legally,of course? He chuckles forming into a nod of the head. Even today, Big Sean is strivingto
achievebigger and better things as if his currentlifestylewasn'tenough for him! So what's next for this
optimistic 20 year old? With his second studio albumto be released in May and a tour followingafterwards,
we caught him at justthe righttime before he jets onto another planefor another performance in another
country.