Review: Big Sean – “Dark Sky Paradise”

Big Sean - Dark Sky Paradise

Rating: 7.4   February 24th   G.O.O.D./Def Jam   Find It: Official Store

Big Sean’s Dark Sky Paradise is lined with nods to Cole World, Cruel Summer, and Nothing Was The Same, but in reality, it’s just his motivational project. The Detroit emcee’s third studio album is a black-and-white swirl of blank spaces, NBA references, and off-the-cuff quotes (“I done did the impossible a few times, Tom Cruise shit”), and in turn, it ditches the boyish luxury rap for a “damn, you’re mature” perspective on Top 100 hip-hop. Take Side A for example: “Blessings” and “All Your Fault” are juiced-up, leaned-out posse cuts but one minute Sean’s talking 100 dollar fades with Kanye and the next, he’s reflecting on Kim and Ye’s nuptials and his own past/present/future. The flashes of Street Dreams Fab aren’t frequent, but they don’t need to be. Next to Jhené Aiko (“Win Some, Lose Some”) and a designer drugs Mustard beat (“I Know”), they help to conceal Dark Sky’s obtuse moments, allowing Sean to extend bars as an unfiltered version of himself: raw and admirably positive. — [Joshua Khan]

Listen: “All Your Fault”, “Win Some, Lose Some”, “I Know”, “Outro” || Watch: “Paradise”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *