After teasing new music yesterday on social media, Big Sean has finally returned with not one, but two new songs. The first, No More Interviews, takes aim at social media and traditional media for essentially spearheading unnecessary drama and controversy. The second, Bounce Back, is a bravado-laden romp: Sean’s back, and he’s bounced up to the top of his game.
The remarkable thing about these two tracks is how incredible different they are.
No More Interviews is a somber and conscious track making note of the media misrepresentation and exaggeration of drama, to a point where it demonises his friends and family.
First, he proves his authenticity; “I’m so underground that when I talk about J, I might mean J Dilla, RIP real n**gas” – here, he’s saying that a “J” in hip-hop might usually refer to Jay Z, but Sean knows what’s the craic and he’s hip to the underground. Sean confirms this theory by co-signing the Genius annotation explaining it in more detail.
After bigging himself up first, he criticises the music industry and the flippant nature of A&R reps. He addresses some of hip-hop’s most affecting beefs, including Jay Z and Damon Dash, Birdman and Lil Wayne, and perhaps most contextually relevant today, Kanye West and Kid Cudi. Sean goes on to talk more about Cudi, stating, “When I put you on that song with Nas [First Chain] you told me that you was forever grateful… it hurt to hit the internet to find out that me and you don’t fuck with each other over a miscommunication that probably could be fixed with a 5 minute conversation.” His state of mind is clear, his language is precise; all in all it’s one of the realest verses G.O.O.D Music has come out with in a minute.
He goes on to slam the media. “Don’t ask me no stupid questions – ‘are you still signed to Ye?’ questions, no Roc Nation questions,” etc. It’s an incredibly truthful and down-to-earth track, something a lot realer than what I expected from the G.O.O.D Music luminary.
Bounce Back is much more of a party track, a big-up track where Sean runs us through his accolades and glamorous life, explaining in no uncertain terms, why he’s the king. “I woke up in beast mode…. Everything I do is righteous…. Fuck what you know, n**ga I’m taking back control, the underdog just turned into the wolf, and the hunger steady grows… by the night I count stacks… knew that ass was real when I hit bounce back,” and so on. Nevertheless, it’s impressive and aggressive, with a really catchy beat. And if you listen closely at the end, you can hear Sean joined by one Kanye West on the outro hook.
Hopefully this means a full knew release from Big Sean will be out soon! Considering he posted a photo of himself listening to the album with Rick Rubin earlier this year, we’re expecting it to be pretty bloody spectacular.
Image: Supplied