1. 12/2/16 Mia Westwood Big Sean
Only 2 years ago, if the name BigSean was mentioned, you’d be rightin thinking“Who?” But after only
releasinghis firststudio albumlastyear,Big Sean has crashed into a comfortable spotwithin the music
industry.This success hasn’ttaken anyone by more surprisethan BigSean hi mself with him thinkinghe’s either
died and gone to heaven or smoked too much of his spliff.Havingperformed at events such as Madison
Square Gardens and iHeartRadio Festival,it’s surprisinghehasn’t sold outWembley Stadium... Although, that
is his ambition.Satdressed 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’s intimidating atfirstglance,BigSean 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 certainly is demonstrated in his
latestalbum'Dark Paradise' and there's no holdingback in his lyrics makinghim so widely appreciated
amongst even his idols such as KanyeWest."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 him to 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 at a steady pace and being
from a bleak background may have hindered this however Sean disagrees "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 urroundings
are on a rooftop overlookingthe sunny afternoon sky of California.As well as,being on tour with the likes of
Rihanna and The Weeknd which leaves us to have littlesympathy for his pastnow he's livingany 20 year old's
dream.
As soon as BigSean was made awareto his currentproducer, Kanye West, itwas clear the amount of potential
he 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 early life,currently, his lifeis goingsmoother than he is at rappingand that's hard!As smooth as
his character seems, he's only justgetting to grips with his alter ego of Big Sean as he rubs his chin and explains
"I mean it feels likesuch a transition fromjustJosh Phipps and it's one that wi ll never get boringto me." Trying
to pin pointthe moment BigSean made it was hard to identify... Was ithavingall three of his singles in the
Billboard singlechart? Was itwhen he collaborated with Chris Brown on his album? Both moments are too
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 something that 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 just for me to
be happy." Legally,of course? He chuckles forminginto 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.
