Big Sean: I Decided — ‘message of personal growth’ – Financial Times – Financial Times

Big Sean

I Decided

(Virgin EMI)

“Pay attention who you’re getting close to,” Big Sean counsels on “Voices in My Head/Stick to the Plan”, in which the Detroit rapper and his producers, Metro Boomin and DJ Dahi, dramatise the racing mind of a person suffering a breakdown.

The track is one of the best on his new album, proof of the skills that have elevated him towards rap’s A-list. But I Decided is undone by Big Sean’s failure to heed his own advice.

A calamitous guest appearance by fellow Detroiter Eminem on “No Favors” capsizes the album’s message of personal growth with a toxic outburst of misogynistic abuse.

A performer would have paid closer attention to Eminem’s rape threats and left them on the cutting-room floor.