This level of reflection defines the best tracks on the album, and Sean proves he is just as adept at writing love songs as he is at developing quotable ad-libs. Cole’s “ Power Trip,” one of the marquee radio hits of the summer. This song is aided by a stellar Miguel hook that rivals, if not surpasses his contributions to Wale’s “ Lotus Flower Bomb” or J. He pours his heart out on “ Ashley,” a not-so-subtle nod to his high school sweetheart and there-before-the-fame girlfriend Ashley Marie. Thematically, Sean follows the classic rapper arc this is his struggling-with-success project. The MC most known in popular music for his radio single “Dance (A$$)” off his uneven debut effort “Finally Famous” and his turn-on-pop-institution Justin Bieber’s radio single “As Long as You Love Me,” has become a storyteller. The story here is that there is a story here. Related: Big Sean, 3LAU keep bass pumping during Elon Spring Show 2013
Sean elected to omit the originally intended subtitle addendum to the album, “Memoirs of a Detroit Player,” in the lead up to the release, but the sentiment is intact. More than eight months after its initially intended release date, Big Sean, GOOD Music’s first Detroit player off the bench, has finally dropped his sophomore LP, “Hall of Fame.”
Still Bumpin’ is a new series in which The Edge contributor Peter Walpole muses on albums still getting airplay in his personal library months after their release.