Big Sean

Sean Michael Leonard Anderson, known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. He gained initial national attention after signing with Kanye West's record label GOOD Music, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings, in 2007. Sean achieved widespread recognition through his mixtapes and subsequent studio albums, securing multiple number-one positions on the Billboard 200 chart and releasing several high-charting singles.

Sean was born on March 25, 1988, in Santa Monica, California, to Myra and James Anderson. At three months old, he relocated to Detroit, Michigan, where he was raised by his mother, a school teacher, and his grandmother, Mildred Leonard, a World War II veteran who was one of the first Black female captains in the United States Army. Sean attended the Detroit Waldorf School and graduated from Cass Technical High School with a 3.7 GPA. During his high school years, he regularly participated in rap battle contests hosted by Detroit radio station WHTD. In 2005, he met Kanye West at radio station 102.7 FM, where he performed a freestyle and submitted a demo tape. West signed him two years later, and Sean has cited West, Eminem, The Notorious B.I.G., and J Dilla as his musical influences.

Sean released his debut mixtape, Finally Famous: The Mixtape, in 2007, which yielded the attention-grabbing single Get'cha Some. He followed with UKNOWBIGSEAN in 2009 and Finally Famous Vol. 3: BIG in 2010. His debut studio album, Finally Famous, arrived in June 2011, peaking at number three on the Billboard 200. The album produced three successful singles: My Last featuring Chris Brown, Marvin & Chardonnay featuring Kanye West and Roscoe Dash, and Dance (Ass). In 2012, Sean released his mixtape Detroit and appeared on the GOOD Music compilation lead single Mercy.

In August 2013, Big Sean released his second studio album, Hall of Fame, which also reached number three on the Billboard 200 and contained singles such as Beware featuring Lil Wayne and Jhené Aiko. In 2014, he signed a management deal with Roc Nation and released the single I Don't Fuck with You featuring E-40, which went on to earn a diamond certification from the RIAA. His third studio album, Dark Sky Paradise (2015), became his first to debut atop the Billboard 200 and was later certified platinum.

Big Sean formed the duo Twenty88 with Jhené Aiko, releasing a self-titled project in 2016. His fourth solo album, I Decided (2017), debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, supported by the single Bounce Back, which peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that year, he released the collaborative album Double or Nothing with producer Metro Boomin. In 2020, Big Sean earned his third Billboard 200 number-one album with Detroit 2. He later parted ways with GOOD Music, released the collaborative EP What You Expect with Hit-Boy in 2021, and released his sixth album, Better Me Than You, in 2024.

In addition to his music career, Big Sean has taken on acting roles, voicing a character in the HBO series Animals, starring in the animated film Trouble, and appearing in the series Twenties. He also established the Sean Anderson Foundation and donated $10,000 during the Flint water crisis. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded the Key to the City of Detroit in 2017.