Doubling Down
The most over-hated album of all time.
What is it about this project that people hated so much?
‘Double Or Nothing’ is a collaboration album between Big Sean & Metro Boomin’ which dropped in December of 2017 and boy oh BOY did the internet fucking hate it.
As an avid Twitter user, I was present for the immediate online reaction to this project's surprise drop, it was met with tons of hate and incredibly critical analysis over Big Sean’s artistry and rapping ability as well as whether or not his heart was actually in it for real anymore.
Even though this album, at least in my opinion, was a decent listen it was received horribly and I believe it contributed almost entirely to the general diminishing of Big Sean’s rap reputation. This piece will address this in its entirety.
Big Sean’s career has had a few highs and lows, but his artistry up until this point wasn't something you could question.
At this stage in his career, He’s had some amazing commercial albums, such as ‘Hall Of Fame’ which dropped in 2013 and was the beginning of our experiences with an incredibly honest and transparent Big Sean, discussing topics surrounding losing himself in fame, conversations with his mother through skits as she attempts to guide him & discussing his role in a break up with a beloved ex.
Then came ‘Dark Sky Paradise’ in 2015 which further encapsulated this big Sean that we’d already fallen in love with through ‘Hall of Fame’ with an extra large helping of BARS.
He went for it on this one and left absolutely no doubts he was THAT guy in the rap game, competing very well at the time both commercially and in public opinion, with both Drake & Kendrick Lamar who both dropped some of their best work the same year. It was clear at this point to many with a keen ear for rap music that Big Sean was legitimately involved in the illustrious ‘Big 3’ conversation that has almost exclusively included both Drake & Kendrick since 2012, it was always just about trying to figure out who the third name is.
It's still the same to this day.
‘I Decided’ was the most recent drop, hitting streaming platforms in February 2017, 10 months before ‘Double or Nothing’. This one felt a little like a backward step considering how well-received DSP was. The general opinion around it was that despite it still being ok and listenable, it had no discernible theme and just wasn't super kind to the ear for the most part.
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However, Big Sean originally made his name by dropping ‘Finally Famous’ a great debut album that introduced us to the version of big sean we’d grow to know and (kinda) love, the one who raps his ass off but doesn't take himself all too seriously with heavy humor-filled additions to his tracks through the lyrics and his persona. This was a bit more of the version of himself that we got on ‘Double Or Nothing’ with some funny but borderline unlistenable cringe lines.
I was surprised by the fact that we had known this version of Big Sean for almost 7 years at this stage and many fans still managed to be shocked enough about the lyrical content and beat selection to launch such vitriol at his career over this project. The bars can naturally be cringe at times but this is what we’d come to expect from him at this stage, everyone should've been well aware of what a project by Big Sean can come vacuum-packed with. However, I have an idea as to why.
Metro Boomin’ is an Atlanta-based music producer well-known for his collaborations with the likes of 21 Savage, Future, Young Thug & even Travis Scott, but more recently his ongoing feud with Drake. He is one of the most highly respected and sought-after producers on the planet.
At the time Metro was coming off of two widely successful collaboration albums. One with Canadian rapper Nav & another with both Offset who was 1/3 of the Migos alongside his long-term collaborator 21 Savage.
These two projects regardless of sales and commercial success are lauded within the rap community and universally loved. Two prime examples of how amazing a collab album can be. That isn't always how it goes down though, case in point ‘Double or Nothing’.
The issue with collab albums sometimes, especially so in this case, is the collision of two usually completely separate entities in terms of fanbases. Big Sean's core fanbase probably wasn’t too familiar with Metro Boomin’ & likewise with Metro’s to Sean. This causes a big issue…
Fanbases are stubborn, they like what they like, they like what they're used to and they don’t want to have to stray away from that if needs be. If you’re a Big Sean fan you were probably used to straight bars, the occasional cringe lyrics & jokey sexual double entendres. if you're a Metro fan, however, you were probably used to gritty street lyrics, 21 Savage collabs & Atlanta type beats.
We got all of the above on this album, but I genuinely believe that was the main problem at hand here. Too much implementation of each other's usual styles ended up making a mess as it was two systems that were not designed to coexist alongside one another as well as both fan bases not particularly being fans of what the other has to offer.
Big Sean’s fan base wasn't too pleased with the beat selection and Metro’s fan base believed Sean to be too cringe compared to the usual artists on Metro’s roster, which is why they picked holes out of every last lyric to create think pieces about Sean’s career on Twitter
Now, while I can somewhat understand the opinions surrounding this project, I hate the fact that it has gone on to have such a long-lasting effect on Sean’s legacy as an artist. This project was where he plateaued in the eyes of the general public and unfortunately, many rap fans were unable to look at him the same way.
At this stage, a Metro collab would’ve felt like a guaranteed stimulus package to propel your career to new heights and establish a whole new fan base, only surpassed by a Drake feature, this one ended up unfairly being the reason why Big Sean began to stagnate at this stage in his career. Something I believe he never truly recovered from.
It's one of the first times in my life that I'd seen a collab album do more harm than good to an artist's career.
As I’m writing this I've been listening to ‘Bad Cameo’, a collab album between James Blake & Lil Yachty and it's brought into perspective how well collaborations can go when two separate entities make sufficient sacrifices sonically to mesh perfectly with one another.
‘Double or Nothing’, while not deserving even half of the harsh criticism it received, could learn a lot from a project such as this.
