Big Sean- I Decided ALBUM REVIEW

Big Sean is one of the more notable figures in mainstream hip hop, but sometimes, it's frankly hard to see why. The Detroit MC has been around for a while now, as he's on his fourth solo album and does countless features on various albums. My opinion of Big Sean boils down to the fact that he's a bit boring. It's always been tough to find something special, unique, or memorable about Big Sean, and his solo releases thus far have defined that. His last project, Dark Sky Paradise, was definitely his best and featured a slew of great tracks, but ultimately it was still tough to me form a legit identity for Big Sean. Will he separate himself from the pack on his fourth project, I Decided?

When trying to compare this project to Sean's last, Dark Sky Paradise, a lot of roadblocks get in the way. On one hand, I'm pretty proud of what Sean has done on I Decided. I got more personality and individuality from Big Sean on this album than I've ever gotten before. On Dark Sky, he was making good songs but he still wasn't doing much of his own thing and it was still tough to see who he really was. On I Decided, Big Sean got very personal, down to earth, and emotional, which was wonderful to see and gave me a lot of optimism about someone who I've always been indifferent on. This change from him results in some seriously good tracks. For some of this album however, Sean sounds so new to the emotional style that he's working with. In my opinion, not a lot of these songs are executed well, and even though there is hope to be found here in terms of Sean's progression as an artist, he still has some work to do in order to really blow me away with his music. I Decided is just so close to being a great album, but little flaws here and there are still holding Big Sean back on it.

Even though I have my complaints, I can't exaggerate enough how good it is to see Big Sean's evolution on I Decided. The guy is being personal, he's opening up about relationship problems and his family, and he sounds so much more passionate. He may have tried to do this on albums like Hall of Fame, but things seem a lot more polished here. It is always good to see an artist start to open up on his songs, and I think that's what makes this album stand out among Big Sean's projects. The song Bounce Back is great in the beginning of the record, featuring a cool atmospheric beat and super catchy hook from Sean. He gets into failed relationship as I mentioned earlier on the song Jump Out the Window, which is probably my favorite song here. The whole song is melodic in a very subdued, downcast way that I enjoyed. Sean sings well on this track and he croons about love in a way he hasn't done this effectively before.  Moments like this song, Moves, Same Time Pt. 1, and Inspire Me show Sean really putting songs together well and making catchy music that is also emotionally strong.

Sadly, I don't think Big Sean kept up the quality of the songs consistently on this album. In contrast with the songs I enjoyed, there were tracks on here that were below average and reminiscent of Sean's weaker albums. Songs such as Halfway off the Balcony kept up the dark vibe that I liked on the other tracks, but here Sean's vocal performance is a lot less passionate and he didn't hook me in at all. Following this was the two part track Voices In My Head/Stick to the Plan, which I felt was a mess entirely. The first part showed Sean doing interesting things lyrically, but I didn't feel the instrumental complimented him and the track was awkward. Once it hits the transition to Stick to the Plan, the song totally falls apart and shows Sean really doing some awful singing. While there were very few outright bad moments on here, a good chunk of this album came off a little boring. I didn't get much inspiration from Sean out of Light, Owe Me, or Sunday Morning Jetpack, the latter of which features some weak singing from The Dream. Speaking of features, it should definitely be noted that Eminem more or less ruined the track No Favors. I was loving Sean's bars here and he was rapping very very well, but Em's flow sounded way too robotic, his lines were occasionally cringe-worthy, and his verse went on for way too long. It was sad to see a track with such potential get thrown away by someone who I expected to kill this feature.

Luckily, this album ended on a high note with its last few tracks. I liked how Big Sean wrapped together the personal narrative of this album by ending this project with these songs that had very strong themes to them. Inspire Me was a song all about his mother, and it came off as a very loving, cute, and catchy track. On Sacrifices, he throws together a banger and talks about some of the things he has sacrificed on his way to where he is now, with the help of Migos who bring some very solid verses. Finally, the album closer Bigger Than Me was sensational, and it sounded like an old school Kanye West anthem as Sean had the Flint Choir singing on the instrumental. Overall, I definitely see the progress from Big Sean on I Decided, and even if he struggles at points here it gets me very excited for Sean's evolution as an artist

Wrap Up
+Big Sean puts together emotional, personal songs better than he ever has
+He does a lot of new things with singing and the production he goes over
+Lots of strong themes and an interesting narrative to the project
-Still has several ugly moments, and a few awful features don't help
-Album drags on from time to time with samey tracks

Favorite Songs: Bounce Back, Jump out the Window, Bigger than Me

Least Favorite Song: Voices in my Head/Stick to the Plan

7.1/10

Migos- Culture ALBUM REVIEW

For the first review of the new year, I'm gonna take on Culture, the hot new album by Atlanta rap trio Migos. Comprised of Quavo, Offset, and Takeoff, Migos have been making waves lately with some very successful singles, topping the charts and becoming known on a more global scale. I've always enjoyed these guys when they hop on a track as a feature, as their high-energy flows are incredibly infectious and fun. Migos, and Quavo in particular, have honestly had some of the best features on hit songs over the past few years. Their solo work, however, hasn't made nearly the same impact for me. I was never really impressed by any of their mixtapes, and their 2015 debut album, while decent, didn't wow me either. I actually loved the singles that Migos was dropping in anticipation for this new album, so my expectations are a little higher here. Did Migos come through with Culture?

An extremely momentum based albums, Culture provided a very inconsistent listening experience. It was a tale of two halves for me, as the difference of how I felt about each half was actually quite drastic. When an album pops off with DJ Khaled shouting his own name and bringing a ton of energy, you get pumped up. The Khaled element combined with some slick verses from Migos makes the intro track a memorable one. Following this, the album hits its apex with the three most successful singles from Culture coming back to back to back. I found all three of these tracks to be awesomely catchy,  and dynamic bangers that show the Migos as an infectiously fun group.T-Shirt creeps in with a steady, slow vibe that builds up into a fantastic trap melody, and this is absolutely my favorite song from the album. Call Casting is full of catchy bounciness, while Bad and Boujee is eerily compelling and memorable. These three singles coming in a row makes the beginning of the album incredibly fun, and shows Migos knows which tracks to put out as singles.Get Right Witcha, which comes right after the trio of singles, is pretty solid, but unfortunately from this point on, I think the album fails to reach the bar of hype and entertainment that these three songs set.

In terms of the production and sound of this record, I really do enjoy the general vibe of what Migos does. They seem to separate themselves pretty effortlessly from your average Atlanta trap sound and go for something a little more nuanced, dark, and subtle. On some of the best tracks from this album, Migos is working with beats that can be described as quiet and minimalistic, at least compared to a lot of what we hear in mainstream hip hop today. On tracks like Bad and Boujee and Get Right Witcha, things flow on by with beats that don't have much going on, and they do a good job of letting Migos take the stage. This is a good direction to go in because I think these guys can spit for days. All three of the Migos know their way around a track and do a really great job of grabbing attention with their quick, fiery flows. Quavo in particular stands out in this group for having very good and consistent performances. The guy has a memorable voice, has some great little inflections on certain lines he says, and just has some confident presence on the mic. He's the star of this trio, and I think it shows in how well he does on songs like T-Shirt, an example of him killing the entire track with an excellent verse.

While I do like the production and style Migos went for on this album, I have to admit it started to go downhill rather quickly as the album went on. A number of these songs, such as Big on Big, Slippery, and Kelly Price were long but really didn't have the fun hooks or memorable verses to keep them interesting and justify their length. This made songs like these dull, and they aren't songs I want to keep coming back to. The style is similar enough to the stellar singles, but it is just not done nearly as well. A decent song would come on here and there, such as Brown Paper Bag and the album closer Out Yo Way, but a majority of the tracks that come after the beginning of the project were nothing special to me. A low light came on the song Deadz, where the hook sounded very lazy and these guys weren't rapping with the great flows and energy that I usually hear from them. Even a good 2 Chainz verse couldn't save this track from being my least favorite on the album. It was disappointing that Culture couldn't keep up its incredible momentum, but I still can't be mad at Migos for this album. They did a good job of coming out firing and showing lots of potential. I am still a fan of their sound at the end of the day, even if this album had its inconsistency.

Wrap Up 
+Amazingly dynamic and energized start to the album
+Very, very good singles
+Great rap flows and overall sound
-Didn't switch up their style very much at all throughout
-Album really runs out of steam in the second half

Favorite Songs: T-Shirt, Call Casting, Bad and Boujee

Least Favorite Song: Deadz

6.5/10