Sean Michael Leonard Anderson, (born March 25, 1988 in Detroit, Michigan), better known by his stage name Big Sean, is an American rapper signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music and Island Def Jam. In 2005 he met West at a radio station, and after being impressed with Sean’s obvious talents he signed him in 2007. So far he has released three mixtapes, 2007’s Finally Famous, 2009’s UKnowBigSean, and 2010’s BIG. His debut album, Finally Famous, was released in June 2011 and featured guest appearances from hip hop superstars Kanye West, Chris Brown, Pharrell Williams, The-Dream, Wiz Khalifa, and Lupe Fiasco.
He was raised by his mother and grandparents who worked steadfastly to instill in him the principles of hard work and determination. Sean attended the Detroit Waldorf School, a school of art, from Kindergarten to 8th Grade where he was introduced to a spectrum of art and culture. He later attended Cass Technical High School where he furthered his music career, met life long friends, and gained the support of fans and peers as he independently sold copies of his music. Sean gained a strong relationship with 102.7FM, a local radio station in Detroit where he displayed his rhyming skills weekly. There, he met Kanye West after a radio interview in 2005 and got a chance to display his talent by freestyling for Mr. West, giving him a copy of his music and sending numerous tracks for him to critique. After months of submitting songs and numerous meetings, Sean finally got the call from Kanye West himself saying that he wanted to sign him. He is a sexy artist.
Detroit rapper and producer Big Sean, who has established a web presence in the multi-millions with his trilogy of Finally Famous mixtapes, and his non-stop string of self-produced gone-viral videos, finally graduates to the front line with his official debut, Finally Famous: The Album. The platter is due for release in March on his mentor Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam label. The first single features Chris Brown and produced by No ID and it is available at Big Sean’s Facebook page. Go here to check it out. It’s pretty. It has some AutoTune. It bumps. I dig.
Big Sean’s career has gone into overdrive since October 2010, when he appeared on the BET Awards telecast, after earning “New Joint” status at 106 & Park two months earlier. Also in October, his most recent G.O.O.D. Music mixtape was issued. That mixtape, Finally Famous Vol. 3: BIG, was hosted by Don Cannon. BIG, which has received over 650,000 downloads to date, spun off a slew of video clips including “What U Doin (Bullshitting)” (over 955,000 views on #1 music site VEVO), “Supa Dupa Lemonade” (over 1.3 million views on YouTube), “Too Fake” (featur¬ing Chiddy Bang, over 770,000 views on YouTube), “Ambiguous” (featuring Mike Posner), and “Memories” (released two weeks ago on Complex.com). Sean was also featured on five tracks off of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy recording sessions, four of which were part of the G.O.O.D Friday Campaign and the fifth, “See Me Now,” is featured as a bonus track on the album.
A brief Big Sean bio: 22-year old Sean Anderson started rapping as a 12-year old at the progressive Waldorf School in Detroit. In high school, he and a friend formed a duo, then entered and won the “Friday Night Cipher” MC contest at hip-hop radio giant Hot 102.7. The win earned them a spot to rap live on-air every Friday night for nearly a year. It was on one of those Friday nights around 2005 that Sean encountered Kanye West, back in the Late Registration era, who agreed to hear the teenager’s freestyle. It was the contact of a lifetime, which led to Sean’s signing with G.O.O.D. Music in late 2007, and his subsequent signing to Def Jam in 2008.
“I remember in the eighth grade I told myself, man I’m going to be signed to Def Jam,” says Sean. “I always put it out into the universe and I think it was written for me. I was meant to inspire people, I was meant to make music. There’s been so many nights where instead of going out I’ve had to work and was depressed so I feel like I deserve this. This is what I was meant to do.”