Hip-hop is a three horse race and as much as I love Big Sean, I don’t see him being placed in as the fourth horseman at this moment. There is a tremendous amount of buzz around Dark Sky Paradise with looming questions of will he deliver? I’m a believer in Sean but in order for him to be a threat to the thrown that is constantly flopped between Drake, Kendrick Lamar and J.Cole he must deliver an unquestioned classic album. I’m talking about greatness at the level of good kid, m.A.A.d city. A solid outing is not only necessary for pole positioning but to also reestablish Big Sean as an artist that can make a quality product. Hall of Fame was a miss for many fans in both quality and sales. Seeing how Big Sean has served up tracks like “IDFWU” and “Blessing” it’s clear he is in his zone, but the obstacles don’t stop there

Unfortunately, Big Sean is dropping at a time where J. Cole is gearing up for a tour after a solid effort to close 2014, the world is buzzing over when Kendrick will feed our souls and Drake just dropped 17 tracks of a mixtape that is better than 85% of retail releases we have heard in the past year and a half. It’s not a quiet scene to command attention, not to mention big homie Kanye West is holding down headlines everywhere. It won’t be as easy for Big Sean to take control, no pun intended, as many may hope. – Shawn Grant