Finally Famous (Big Sean album)

Finally Famous
Studio album by Big Sean
Released June 28, 2011
Recorded 2010–11
Paramount Recording Studio
4220 Studios
(Hollywood, California)
The Loft
(Detroit, Michigan)
Boogie Down Chinatown Studios
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
CRC Studio
(Chicago, Illinois)
Legend Studios
Manhattan Sound Recording Studios
The Mercer
The Record Plant Studios
(New York, New York)
Westlake Studios
(West Hollywood, California)
Genre Hip hop
Length 50:40
Label
Producer
Big Sean chronology
Finally Famous
(2011)
Detroit
(2012)
Singles from Finally Famous
  1. "My Last"
    Released: March 1, 2011
  2. "Marvin & Chardonnay"
    Released: July 12, 2011
  3. "Dance (A$$)"
    Released: September 20, 2011

Finally Famous is the debut studio album by American hip hop recording artist Big Sean. It was released on June 28, 2011, by GOOD Music, with the distribution by Def Jam Recordings. It marks the first official release of this Finally Famous series, following by these releases of his mixtape trilogies; including Finally Famous Vol. 1: The Mixtape (2007), Finally Famous Vol. 2: UKNOWBIGSEAN (2009), and Finally Famous Vol. 3: BIG (2010).

Preceding the album's release, with the support of his three singles: "My Last" featuring Chris Brown, "Marvin & Chardonnay" featuring Kanye West and Roscoe Dash, and "Dance (A$$)".

Singles

Its lead single, titled "My Last" was officially released on March 1, 2011. The song features guest vocals from American recording artist Chris Brown, while it was produced by No I.D.[1] The song debuted at number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[2] It also topped the US Top Rap Songs chart, becoming his first number-one hit on the chart in the United States.[3]

"Marvin & Chardonnay" featuring Kanye West and Roscoe Dash, was sent to radio on July 12, 2011[4] as the album's second single. The song was produced by Pop Wansel from the production duo Pop & Oak. The song peaked at number 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[2]

"Dance (A$$)" was sent to urban radio as the album's third single on September 20, 2011. The song was produced by Da Internz.[5] "Dance (A$$) (Remix)" featuring Nicki Minaj, was officially sent to urban radio on October 18, 2011.[6]

Promotional singles

The album's first promotional single, "I Do It" was released via digital download on May 10, 2011. The song was produced by No I.D. and The Legendary Traxster.[7] The song peaked at number 92 on the US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart.[8]

The album's second promotional single, "What Goes Around" was released on May 20, 2011. With its production handled by No I.D.,[9] it has failed to chart.

The album's third promotional single, "So Much More" was released on June 14, 2011.[10] The song was produced by No I.D.

Critical response

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(69/100)[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
The A.V. Club(C)[13]
Consequence of Sound[14]
HipHopDX[15]
The New York Times(favorable)[16]
Now[17]
Pitchfork Media(6.1/10.0)[18]
RapReviews(6.5/10)[19]
Rolling Stone[20]
XXL (XL)[21]

Finally Famous was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 20 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[22] David Jeffries of Allmusic gave the album four out of five stars, saying "Fun, inventive, swaggering, and smart, Finally Famous is an exciting debut."[12] William E. Ketchum III of HipHopDX gave the album four out of five stars, saying "The final product is a solid debut that shows enough of Sean's skill and personality to keep listeners stay tuned, with the room for growth for higher expectations next time around."[15]

Chris Martins of The A.V. Club gave the album a C, saying "Complexity is a hallmark of any good artist, but Sean seems distracted by clichéd ideas of identity."[13] Kevin Ritchie of Now gave the album two out of five stars, saying "Kanye West protegé and “hashtag rap” inventor Big Sean basks in the glow of Chicago producer No I.D.’s uplifting, soul-inflected beats on his debut album, an enjoyable enough summertime record that showcases the Detroit MC’s ability to trade punchlines with pop choruses."[17] Sam Hockley-Smith of Pitchfork Media gave the album a 6.1 out of 10, saying "We can only hope that for album two, Sean will step out from the herculean shadows of the artists he surrounds himself with and learn the art of subtlety."[18]

Matthew Trammell of Rolling Stone gave the album three and a half stars out of five, saying "Finally Famous is a choice summertime rap record, complete with bright, breezy synth beats and cameos from Chris Brown and Mr. West himself."[20] Jesal Padania of RapReviews gave the album a 6.5 ot of 10, saying "On an eleven track album, the production values are high, the choruses are generally pretty great, and it is without a doubt one of the more enjoyable records to bump in 2011."[19]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 87,000 copies in the United States.[23][24]

Track listing

Finally Famous —Standard edition
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Intro"  
1:14
2. "I Do It"   3:35
3. "My Last" (featuring Chris Brown)No I.D. 4:14
4. "Don't Tell Me You Love Me"  
No I.D. 3:56
5. "Wait for Me" (featuring Lupe Fiasco)
3:57
6. "Marvin & Chardonnay" (featuring Kanye West and Roscoe Dash) 3:42
7. "Dance (A$$)"  Da Internz 3:17
8. "Get It (DT)"  The Neptunes 3:27
9. "Memories (Part II)" (featuring John Legend)
No I.D. 4:35
10. "High" (featuring Wiz Khalifa and Chiddy Bang)Xaphoon Jones 4:20
11. "Live This Life" (featuring The-Dream)
No I.D. 4:18
12. "So Much More"  
  • Anderson
  • Wilson
No I.D. 5:55
Total length:
50:40

Samples

Charts

Chart (2011) Peak
position
Canadian Albums Chart[27] 20
US Billboard 200[28] 3
US R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[29] 2

References

  1. "Big Sean featuring Chris Brown – My Last, listen at Rap-Up". Website. Rap-Up. February 7, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Big Sean – Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  3. "Big Sean – Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  4. http://gfa.radioandrecords.com/publishGFA/GFANextPage.asp?sDate=07/12/2011&Format=5
  5. "Urban/UAC Future Releases | R&B, Hip Hop, Release Schedule and Street Dates |". Allaccess.com. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
  6. AllAccess.com
  7. "New Music: Big Sean – "I Do It" (Available on iTunes Tomorrow!) | News | Big Sean | Artists | Def Jam". Island Def Jam. 2011-05-09. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  8. "Big Sean – Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  9. Huynh, Davis (May 20, 2011). "Big Sean – What Goes Around (Produced by No I.D.)". Website. Hype Beast. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
  10. "Single Cover: Big Sean "So Much More"". Complex. 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  11. "Finally Famous: Tha Album Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  12. 1 2 Jeffries, David. "allmusic ((( Finally Famous – Big Sean > Review )))". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  13. 1 2 Martins, Chris (June 28, 2011). "Big Sean: Finally Famous". The A.V. Club (Chicago, Illinois: The Onion). Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  14. Coplan, Chris (June 27, 2011). "Album Review: Big Sean – Finally Famous". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  15. 1 2 Ketchum III, William E. (June 20, 2011). "Big Sean – Finally Famous: The Album". HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  16. Chinen, Nate (June 27, 2011). "New Music". The New York Times. pp. 1–2. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  17. 1 2 Ritchie, Kevin. "Big Sean – Finally Famous". Now. NOW Communications. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
  18. 1 2 "Big Sean: Finally Famous". Pitchfork Media. 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
  19. 1 2 Padania, Jesal (June 28, 2011). "Big Sean :: Finally Famous :: G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam". RapReviews. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  20. 1 2 Trammel, Matthew (June 28, 2011). "Finally Famous by Big Sean". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  21. "Big Sean, Finally Famous". XXL. Townsquare Media. 2012-02-10. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
  22. "Finally Famous Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
  23. Caulfield, Keith (July 6, 2011). "Beyonce Notches 4th Billboard 200 No. 1 with '4'". Billboard. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  24. Langhorne, Cyrus. "Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 11/6/2011". HipHopDX. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  25. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/finally-famous-super-deluxe/id474876755
  26. "iTunes – Music – Finally Famous (Super Deluxe Edition) by Big Sean". iTunes Store UK.
  27. "Big Sean Album & Song Chart History". Billboard Canadian Albums for Big Sean. Prometheus Global Media. July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  28. "Big Sean Album & Song Chart History". Billboard 200 for Big Sean. Prometheus Global Media. July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  29. "Big Sean Album & Song Chart History". Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Big Sean. Prometheus Global Media. July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
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