Big Sean is keeping it real

For Big Sean, creativity is a byproduct of the world around him — a self-filling “well of water” as he puts it. His latest endeavour? Better Me Than You, a 21-track album spanning deep life lessons to playful interludes. “It’s a soundtrack to whatever you got going on,” he says. “Especially for the ones that are seeking more, you know?” It’s true that the rapper’s own life is plentiful. Aside from a stellar music career, he’s the author of an upcoming novel (Go Higher: Five Practices for Purpose, Success, and Inner Peace) and father to a two-year-old son with partner and singer Jhené Aiko. It is, perhaps, this shift in priorities that’s been missing from the rapper’s arsenal — the understanding that going out and living life is the biggest creative tool of all. “Recently I was in the studio and I wasn’t feeling it,” he muses. “Whenever that happens, you need to go out and experience life a little more and come back to it.” Taking some space isn’t something that always came naturally to the rapper, however. “Younger me would try and force it,” he continues. “But you can’t really force nothing. It’s just no way to live your life, man. The product is better when you respect it. I respect every song, everything I do as its own living thing.”

In the wake of his sixth studio album, Big Sean talks to HUNGER about turning stress into motivation, prioritising fatherhood and taking pride in keeping it real.

Jordan Rossi: So, what was the inspiration behind the album?

Big Sean: I was going through a period where things were drastically changing and it was a beautiful time. I became a dad. A lot of lessons were being discovered — one of the most important was to just keep having fun, man. Even the title, it’s like, when you’re the one that has to step up and take on extra responsibility, you don’t got to do it, you get to do it. So Better Me Than You is saying I’m a better me than you could ever be.

JR: “Pressure” is, of course, the opening track. What does pressure signify for you?

BS: Pressure is how the album started in the first place. I was putting extra stress on myself. But pressure can be a good thing — the same with stress. There’s distress and then there’s eustress. Eustress is the motivating stress, and that’s the kind that I like to turn all my stress into.

This excerpt was taken from HUNGER Issue 33: Good People. Stay tuned for the full story.