Detroit emcee, Big Sean is having one of the biggest years of his career, thanks in large part to his mostly critically-acclaimed latest chart-topping solo album, I Decided. Which was released earlier this year via his mentor Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam imprint and opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts. Giving Sean his second straight number one album and is a huge reason why he is one of the main acts for this year’s upcoming latest edition of Lollapalooza at Grant Park in Chicago. With the Midwest native being the second to last act on the Bud Light stage for the final day of Aug. 6th.
It has been a long time coming for Sean, who has surprisingly never played at Lollapalooza before this year. But is already set to be the closest you can be to being a headliner in his very first ever Lolla performance in just a little over a week. Being signed to legendary Chicago producer, rapper and designer West’s G.O.O.D. Music, making this almost like a homecoming too. Especially with how much love everybody here in Chicago has shown Sean Don over the years since he first started with his very firtst mixtape, Finally Famous: The Mixtape, which was released ironically enough, coming up on 10 years at the end of this coming September.
That a decade after he was first signed by West, makes it even more appropriate that this is the first time Sean is not only playing at Lollapalooza, but will likely have a hero’s type welcome that will be the closest he has to any festival feeling like a homecoming for him.
Aligning himself with JAY-Z’s Roc Nation on Sept. 12, 2014, Sean has been on a virtual unbeatable streak ever since then. Never getting a No. 1 album before that, both of Sean’s albums have opened at No. 1 on the charts and virtually everyone of his singles released since that point have gone either Gold or Platinum with his lead single from his third album, Dark Sky Paradise, I Don’t F*^k with You, reaching as high as No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Paradise was not only Sean’s first album to debut at No. 1 on the charts, but get a Platinum plaque too.
Working with many great artists, which ranges from Nas to Jay, Kanye, Eminem, Common, Lil Wayne, Pusha T, John Legend and Jhené Aiko to name a few, Sean has already worked with so many great artists in such a young career. Which makes it even greater that on his latest album, I Decided, he has worked probably the most he has of any of his album’s so far with mostly just him and not as many features. Showing how much he has grown as an artist. Sean’s TWENTY88 groupmate and current girlfriend Jhené, being another huge reason on how much he has grown as not only a lyricist and emcee, but artist as well.
That gives me the perfect segue too, into the fact that Lollapalooza for years has had many artists whether big or small with fans wondering each year if they can guess who will be brought out. In year’s past fellow Detroit native Eminem has brought out Royce Da 5’9” and Rihanna, as well as Chance the Rapper bringing out R. Kelly, just a few years ago as some of the more memorable ones. This year with Sean, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him possibly bring out his TWENTY88 groupmate, Jhené Aiko and with how many Chicago artists he has worked with over the years. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him bring out somebody else like singer and Chicago native, Jeremih or his one-time former G.O.O.D. Music labelmate, GLC. The ultimate surprise would be if he somehow managed to bring out West and/or even another Chicago Hip-Hop legend, who was also a one-time former G.O.O.D. Music labelmate of his, Common. With Lolla set to open a week from today, but Sean’s set to be one of the very last performances of Lollapalooza this year, we will have to wait and see though.