Backdrop Gets Finally Famous with Big Sean

The DJ blasts bass, pulsing the walls of Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium from his large, hulking platform of equipment. The large crowd in front of him is anxious--almost rowdy. Small fights erupt in the front three rows as attendees throw wily punches at others who have stolen their seats. The DJ has a tough task: keep the rambunctious crowd settled until their idol takes the stage to perform.

Suddenly, the lights dim and the cavernous confines of the auditorium ripple with excitement. The concert's hosts for the night fan the anticipatory flames of the crowd, asking, "who's ready to see Big Sean!?" The crowd roars in response and as the lights slowly brighten, the slender figure of Sean Anderson--Big Sean--appears in front of the DJ's mound of wires, speakers and computers. Wasting no time, Sean blasts into an impassioned performance of his hit, "Final Hour," igniting the rabid masses.

The reaction of the Ohio University crowd this past Saturday is nothing new for Big Sean as a rapidly rising star. Signed by Kanye West and a member of West's prestigious G.O.O.D. Music label, he is used to the energy and passion of sold-out venues screaming his name, lyrics and signature catchphrase, "Finally Famous." Backdrop was fortunate enough to catch up with Big Sean after the show and talk about his hometown of Detroit, his upcoming debut album and the importance of college campus shows.

BM: Can we expect Finally Famous: The Album to be your next project? What can we expect from it?

Sean: It’s the next project for sure. Def Jam has made me a priority and I’m really excited about it. And, uh, you can just expect a story… you can expect what you hear on all of my mixtapes times, like, ten. Also, when you do a mixtape, the difference between a mixtape and an album is you can do all sorts of shit. But from an album’s perspective, I wanted to do just one sound. So that’s how it is different—it’ll have that one sound. You’ll still get the story about somebody who has a dream to starting to live out his dream to having fun to fucking girls to falling in and out of love to getting money to smoking. You know, whatever young people go through. That’s the best kind of music. I just want to make music that people can relate to.

BM: You mentioned that you try to incorporate a lot of guest spots on your mixtapes, but you’re trying to focus more on featuring yourself on the album. Can we expect an album that mainly focuses on just you as an artist?

Sean: Yeah, it’s going to be a lot of me. I’ve got some features on there—especially on the choruses. I do a lot of choruses, but I’ve got a lot of people on the choruses as well. I’ve got The-Dream on one and Mike Posner on another. I just did it so I could give it some variety. I’m really excited about it. No I.D. did a lot of the production on it and Kanye and Pharrell helped too. It’s just not fair, man, it’s not fair (laughs)

BM: How did it feel to appear as a member of XXL Magazine's prestigious 2010 Freshman Class and how has the appearance built your notoriety over the past year?

Sean: Man, it’s exciting. I feel like it’s done a lot for me already. Like, my fan base has quadrupled since that cover. And it hasn’t quadrupled for everyone on that cover. You really have to take it and go with it. That’s what I did. I did as much as I could do. I was on Def Jam and wasn’t a priority, so I had to build my own buzz, my own fan base. Grinding hard is a bitch, man, it’s hard as Hell. Luckily, I had people like No I.D., people like ‘Ye who were stepping in to help out. Now I’m doing shows that are incredible and my fan base grows everyday. I think at the time of the Freshman 10 I had around 20,000 Twitter followers; now I’ve got like 200,000. You can just see the growth. And that hasn’t even been a year yet.

Since then XXL has been very supportive. Even after the cover they have covered me a lot. I’m forever thankful to them and other magazines like Vibe, Source and Complex. Everyone’s just been showing love.

BM: Considering your first show ever was at Bowling Green State University, how important are college campuses towards building your career and getting your sound out?

Sean: College campuses are key because I feel like those people can relate to me the most since they’re my age. You know, I’m 22, and that 18-24 range is who is going to relate the most. But even people older and younger—like high school kids—can still relate. It’s all important. I realized that putting music out for free is where you get across to young people who are on the Internet all day. That shit’s most important to me. No matter how big or small I always make sure I keep that viral part of my game on deck—feed the streets. That’s where I came from.

BM: What’s it like being associated with Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music label? Do you feel like you’re apart of something special with the current line-up consisting of Pusha T (of the Clipse), KiD CuDi, Common, Mos Def and CyHi Da Prynce among others?

Sean: Man, I’m so happy to be a part of G.O.O.D. Music. I’m a part of family, something that’s fresh as Hell. To be under one of the greatest dudes of all time, Kanye, he’s really pushed me to be a better artist in so many ways. And CuDi, Pusha T, Common, John Legend, CyHi—man, shit is crazy.

BM: How did you first meet Kanye West and how did you become a part of G.O.O.D. Music?

Sean: Well as far as my situation, you know, I signed with G.O.O.D. Music and Def Jam and that shit came about a few years ago when I met Kanye. He was promoting his album at the time and downtown at the radio station. I had a great relationship at the radio station because every Friday they had a show called the “Friday Night Cipher.” Rappers from around the city would come and battle and whoever wins the battle gets to rap on air. That’s how I got a good relationship with the radio station when I was in high school. So Kanye was promoting his shit at the radio station when I was a senior in high school and basically, at the time, I was a telemarketer as a summer job. You know, I was grindin’, making, like, $100 a week. It was probably the worst job ever (laughs). My homie, SayItAin’tTone, called me when I was about to cash a check and was like, “yo, man, Kanye’s at the radio station. If you rap for that n****, he’ll sign you, n****” (laughs). I was like, “nah, shut up, man.” He was like, “for real, man, you might as well do that shit. Just do it!” So I walked out of the line without cashing my check and went to the radio station.

Since I had been there the night before for the Friday Night Cipher I still had cds lying around at the station. I told them that I left some shit there, so they let me in the back offices. And one of the DJs—DJ Gary Chandler—was like, “you should go holla at Kanye, he’s right down the hall.”

So basically to make a super-long story short I got to rap for him as he was walking out of the station. He even told me that he didn’t have time and I was like, “please, man, I fuck with you, you’re my hero, man, just let me spit something for you!” And he was like, “man, you’ve got 16 bars while we’re walking out. Go.” And those 16 bars turned into, like, ten minutes. And he stopped at the doorway to the radio station and started bobbing his head. After some punchlines he was like, “oh shit!” I guess he just saw something because I look back on some of my earlier raps and they’re kind of whack now (laughs), but he must have seen some potential. Over the years I’ve developed and we’ve sent music back and forth and I’ve met people along the way. I eventually signed to G.O.O.D. Music and Def Jam.

BM: How has your hometown city of Detroit influenced your tenacity as an artist and your sound?

Sean: It means everything. I feel like Detroit—and the Midwest—is a melting pot of all music. We get a little bit of East Coast, a little bit of West Coast, some of the stuff from down South—all kinds of music. You know, you can hear every aspect of Detroit music. I try to keep an amount of soul in my music like J Dilla did. Not as much as him because he’s the Godfather of that shit. I always try to keep a level of soul that people can relate to. Then guys like Eminem and Royce Da 5’9” are real lyricists. And I’m a lyricist too. I might not be as good as those guys, but I’m a lyricist. I always keep that aspect relevant in my rhymes and my music. And even the Eastside Cheddar Boys and the Street Lords—those guys are from the street side of Detroit. I wasn’t really in the streets, but I saw a lot of that growing up. A lot of my friends and people got killed. I came from the hood, but I was able to elevate from that. But I’m still able to tell it from a poetic standpoint, so I keep that sense of being hard and fresh from the streets from those guys. The list could go on and on, but that’s where I feel like Detroit comes into play. I just mesh them all together.