We’ve all been waiting for Big Sean’s album release date, and it’s finally here!
If you didn’t know, Sean marked his re-entrance into music with “Precision” back in March. That same month, we saw the 36-year-old making his long-awaited NPR Tiny Desk debut with a (nearly) 30-minute set.
As if he hadn’t already returned to the game swinging, Sean teamed up with songstress Jessie Reyez to reveal their track “SHUT UP” in May. However, July was quite a bang for the Detroit-raised rapper! His fourth collaboration with Eminem, “Tobey,” featuring fellow rhymer BabyTron, and “Yes” from his forthcoming full-length hit streaming platforms.
When speaking on the reunion with Eminem for “Tobey,” which has a spot on the iconic lyricist’s newest album, The Death of Slim Shady, Sean posted to X, “Not gon hold you, Slim Shady LP was the first CD i bought wit my own money at Costco.”
He added, “Me n [Eminem] bout 4 songs in now (DVE, No Favors, Detroit 2 cypher) but being on the Death Of Slim Shady is full circle.”
Aside from his recent link-up with Eminem, Sean is gearing up for his sixth masterpiece to grace the shelves.
When Is Big Sean’s Album Release Date?
Titled Better Me Than You, the Def Jam production is set to enter the market on Friday, August 9. Ahead of the album announcement, an alleged leak surfaced on social media, encouraging Sean to unveil a teaser of his song “THE ALCHEMIST.”
“I’ma just start dropping this new music before they leak it all,” Mr. Don joked in an Instagram post.
According to reports, Kanye West and one of his fans were (supposedly) behind the exposal. The revenge tactic was said to have been done after they accused Sean of dissing West in his “On The Radar” freestyle. Sean shut down the rumors and affirmed that he knows West “wouldn’t do no sh*t like that” in an Instagram Live.
Additionally, last month, Sean played an unreleased tune produced by West called “Fighting Fires.”
Big Sean just played his verses on Kanye produced unreleased song “Fighting Fires” pic.twitter.com/iJpTjKeeQP
— CHANOS (@excitebikee) July 16, 2024
As we’ve previously seen, Sean and the G.O.O.D. Music founder have had some public issues over the last few years, with West infamously indicating that signing the beat gawd to his label was a bad idea in a former sit-down with Drink Champs.
During a 2024 conversation with media personality Charlamagne tha God, Sean briefly touched on the current state of their relationship. If you remember, shortly after West’s controversial Drink Champs interview, the “I Don’t F*ck With You” phenomenon visited the podcast in 2021 and revealed that West actually owed him millions of dollars. The two have since settled the balance.
“Signing to G.O.O.D. Music was the best thing that could’ve happened to me… in that moment, in my life, period. I don’t take it for granted,” he told Charlamagne. “There’s a part of me that will forever f*ck with [Kanye] because of that, too… for signing me. I’ll never discount that, but at the same time, with the deal I signed, he made more money off of my music than me.”
He later said that he and West spoke after his Drink Champs comments and he came to the realization that West’s remarks on the show were “performative.”
The meaning behind Big Sean’s Better Me Than You album artwork is interesting.
All that aside, The Go Higher author still hasn’t let the haters prematurely sabotage his Better Me Than You rollout. This will be the artist’s first official solo effort since 2020’s Detroit 2. During the creation process, Sean recalled coming to a sense of self-awareness.
Better Me Than You includes hand-drawn artwork from Sean (himself). The four charts represent pressure, clarity, focus, and happiness, which were his moods while putting the musical endeavor together.
“The 𝙋𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙎𝙐𝙍𝙀 of life (being a new Dad, being a artist thats growing, being a human in development etc) and embracing it all led me to a lot of 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘 on what i needed to 𝐅𝐎𝐂𝐔𝐒 on to find a piece of 𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑷𝑰𝑵𝑬𝑺𝑺,” he explained on X. “The past few years making this album have been a journey to say the least, but n l’m just glad we finally here.”
BETTER ME THAN YOU 🌍
Album August 9th
Pre save + Vinyl now https://t.co/A6iVPHNgQq pic.twitter.com/248pcRfIYo— Sean Don (@BigSean) July 18, 2024
On August 1, Sean surprised his supporters with an all-new single from the album, “On Up,” along with the video. Filmed by Lawrence Lamont, the feel-good visual is depicted from the point of view of his infant son, whom he welcomed with his longtime girlfriend, singer Jhené Aiko, in 2022. Aiko also stars in the short flick alongside Sean.
An unconfirmed tracklist for Better Me Than You has appeared on Genius, including supposed bops with West, Nas, Drake, and Future. No word from Sean or his team on whether that is true.
Are you ready for Big Sean’s album release date? Comment below!
