Big Sean

Cass Tech and 102.7

Sean Michael Leonard Anderson was born on March 25, 1988, in Santa Monica, California, and moved to Detroit at three months old. He was raised by his mother, a schoolteacher, and his grandmother, went to the Detroit Waldorf School and graduated from Cass Technical High School. As a teenager he battled every week on the rap contest run by Detroit hip hop station WHTD.

In 2005 he heard Kanye West was doing an interview at 102.7 FM and went down to the station. West gave him sixteen bars in the doorway on his way out, liked what he heard, and took his demo. Two years later West signed him to GOOD Music through Def Jam. Sean named West, Eminem, The Notorious B.I.G. and J Dilla as his influences.

Finally Famous

The mixtapes came first: Finally Famous: The Mixtape (2007), with the Hype Williams-directed “Get’cha Some,” then UKNOWBIGSEAN (2009) and Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big (2010), which broke him nationally. His debut album Finally Famous came out on GOOD/Def Jam on June 28, 2011, mostly produced by No I.D., and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 behind “My Last,” “Marvin & Chardonnay” and “Dance (A$$).” In 2012 he was on the GOOD Music posse cut “Mercy” and dropped the free mixtape Detroit, with Royce da 5’9”, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and King Chip.

No. 1 albums

Hall of Fame (2013) also reached No. 3. Dark Sky Paradise (2015) was his first No. 1, led by “I Don’t Fuck With You” with E-40, which went diamond, plus “Blessings” with Drake and Kanye. I Decided (2017) went No. 1 behind “Bounce Back,” his biggest single at No. 6 on the Hot 100. He made Twenty88 (2016) with Jhené Aiko and Double or Nothing (2017) with Metro Boomin. Detroit 2 (2020), with Eminem, Lil Wayne and the late Nipsey Hussle on “Deep Reverence,” was his third No. 1, and it featured Dwele on “Everything That’s Missing.”

After GOOD Music

He left GOOD Music in October 2021 after fourteen years. That month he put out the EP What You Expect with Hit-Boy. In 2024 he was on “Tobey” with Eminem and BabyTron and released Better Me Than You in August. A collaborative album with The Alchemist was announced that September.

Back home

Sean started the Sean Anderson Foundation in 2012 for Detroit kids and families. It has donated recording studios to Cass Tech and the Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan and runs the free D.O.N. Weekend festival each year. Detroit gave him the key to the city in 2017, and in 2020 the Pistons named him creative director of innovation.