June 28th was a big day for Big Sean. The rapper’s debut album hit stores and further established the G.O.O.D. Music name. Finally Famous is a project Big Sean had been waiting on for quite some time and we are all glad it is finally here. Check out the album review after the jump.

Uptown Soldier Album Review: Big Sean – Finally Famous

Production: A+  (Kanye and No I.D. with appearances by The Neptunes and Xaphoon Jones, come on)

Lyrics: B  (Big Sean isn’t going to wow anyone with his verses, but he definitely brought some of the best bars he has)

Completeness: A  (The project as a whole boasts everything you want in a debut album)

Extras (Collabs, Artwork, etc.): A  (Kanye and Chris Brown just to name a few)

Overall: A-  (Big Sean couldn’t have asked for a better project to be his debut album)

Finally Famous as a whole is one hell of a project. Let’s just lay out the foundation so we can get the mold and feel for the whole album. We got a 12 track album which is vintage hip-hop and we got four bonus tracks to feed the fiends of the music world that believe more is better. No I.D. is the “Album Producer” and Kanye West is the “Executive Producer.” Did I type that right? Is this Jay-Z’s album? Wait, my bad, its not Sean Carter, it’s Sean Anderson. Who’s that? Okay sorry for the bullshit, back to Big Sean.

As you can see from a production perspective Sean got an album that would seem to be the perfect means to success. The only thing left for the album to be a hit would be those bars and hooks that catch the attention of the music buying public. Honestly, Big Sean came through. His debut album – like Drake’s – was put together extremely well in terms of collaborations, promotion, hype, structure, and A&R choices. Finally Famous puts Big Sean on the map. Clearly the Hip-Hop/R&B community has welcomed him with open arms and he has responded with great work ethic and a product that sells.

A debut album has to show fans a lot of things because it can set the tone for an entire career. Fans need to see range and the ability to hit different emotions. In today’s day and age, one song could attract a new fan base while still be appealing to old fans. You need to be able to have the radio hits and the songs that you wouldn’t play around your mom. Radio hits make money while the hood tracks hit home with true hip-hop fans. You got to have meaningful collaborations. Doing a song with Chris Brown or John Legend brings credibility and more of a reason for new fans to listen. Big Sean touched a lot of different fans with this album; therefore I think this was a great debut for him.

There are many reasons you’d be drawn to the album. Finally Famous has some bangers! “My Last” and “I Do It” are currently the two singles. These records have been getting huge amounts of playtime on radios, iPods, award shows, and stages across the country. “My Last” might sound like a sell out by Big Sean but I completely disagree with that thought. Chris Brown is a huge feature and brings an enormous, loyal fan base with him. Sean’s punch lines in “My Last” are most definitely memorable and the song as a whole provides a feel good message. “I Do It” on the other hand is a dope hip-hop record. It has a bass line that pounds No I.D.’s drums on any speaker system it is played on. “I Do It” is a catchy saying that Sean has seemingly adopted as his motto. His lyrics on this track are definitely up to par including some punch lines that call for an “Ohhhh” and you jumping into your boy (pause). If you have a subwoofer in your whip, “I Do It” is your best friend.

Another thing that really makes this album a dope project is the range Big Sean brings to the table. He has those feel good, smoke weed, songs such as “High”, “My Last”, and “Live This Life” while still making room for more emotional songs. Sean delves into deeper subject matter such as the struggle to gain fame, issues with women, and him reflecting on his journey. The content of “Memories (Part II)”, “Wait For Me”, and “So Much More” hits listeners with an emotion that they can relate to and feel for. Of course the album has its club bangers, but did we think they’d be this good? I honestly haven’t heard a better complete song than “Marvin & Chardonnay” in a long, long time. Roscoe Dash has been “Mr. Hook” lately, killin’ every song he’s been on. Obviously Kanye murders any appearance he makes. This song is going to be playing in clubs for quite a long time. “I Do It” is another banger that will continue to get big amounts of playtime across the country. It’s already been the feature song of a major marketing campaign and I can’t see this song fading. The beat is unreal, Sean’s punch lines hit hard, and the overall sound of the record screams banger.

Every album has a few tracks that probably shouldn’t have made the cut and usually get the skip treatment. On Finally Famous these tracks might appear to be “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me”, “Dance (A$$)”, and “Get It (DT)”, but honestly I feel that these tracks aren’t that bad at all. “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” has dope production making great use of the guitar and Big Sean really brings the right content for the feel of the song with his lyrics. I actually see this song being my sleeper as my favorite song on the album. “Dance (A$$)” is actually a crazy beat that Sean murders with subtle yet fiery bars. “Get It (DT)” might be the worst beat/song on the whole record but still, Sean’s bars aren’t bad.

The Bonus Tracks are a huge plus for me. All four songs are solid tracks. In “Celebrity” we get a little self-reflection from Sean about his fame as well as him boasting a little about it. Still, he creates a feel good track with a dope feature from Dwele. “100 Keys” is a track I believe should have been on the actual album maybe instead of “Get It (DT)”. Its got such a fire beat and to have Pusha T and Rick Ross talk about 100 Keys couldn’t have been a more perfect choice.

The collaborations chosen for this album were near perfect. Kanye drops in on the biggest track on the record and Three R&B superstar singers grace the hooks of “My Last”, “Memories (Part II)”, and “Live This Life”. Not to mention that we get a dope smoking track with the weed superstar Wiz Khalifa and the up and coming Chiddy Bang. Big Sean was able to make an album with big time collabs yet still keeping the lead on every song.

This was a really good debut album, we would not expect anything less from Kanye prodigy. Big Sean has been talking about finally being famous for a few years now and FINALLY it has come. We saw Drake explode last year with a debut record that had a very similar foundation as this one (in terms of hit records, collabs, etc.) and now we are going to see Big Sean do the same. The listening party for this record a few weeks ago was huge, the Adidas in-store promotion and free concert in NYC were both mob scenes (great move by his team making that concert available on Live Stream), and the tour Big Sean is currently on with friend Wiz Khalifa is killin’ it.

Although Big Sean might not actually be big (physically), he sure as hell is now living up to that name. Finally Famous will definitely be getting a lot of spins in the coming months, so if you haven’t got it, Cop Up!! FFOE