Big Sean Releases New Album Better Me Than You

The past two-three weeks have seen an impressively large number of album releases from artists of various genres. As far as the rap scene goes, though, much of the attention can be expected to turn to Big Sean’s sixth studio album, Better Me Than You, which released last week on August 30.

After releasing his Platinum-certified album, Detroit 2, back in 2020, the artist released a brief EP in 2021, then seemingly spent the past three years building up to Better Me Than You, a 21-track exploration of the human condition and the beauty of life. The heart of the album is a “compass,” as Big Sean explains, made up of four central themes: pressure, which leads to clarity, which provides focus and ultimately true happiness. These four points are represented by the spectrum of color erupting from Big Sean on the album’s cover, the most prominent of which being red, blue, green and, of course, golden yellow.

So far, fans have been praising the album for the maturity exhibited from Big Sean. The artist has been known to be introspective with his work in the past, yet the emotional journey he goes through in this work in particular is fairly unique for him. This change was spurned, in part, by the birth of his son in between the release of Detroit 2 and now. The album’s initial single, “On Up,” was even dedicated to his son, further highlighting the emotional depths he was willing to showcase in this work. 

The tracklist for the album is as follows:

1. Pressure (Intro) 
2. Iconic
3. Typecast 
4. Break the Cycle ft. Charlie Wilson
5. Who You Are (Superstar) 
6. Yes
7. It Is What It Is ft. Gunna
8. Apologize ft. Eryn Allen Kane
9. Clarity (skit)
10. On Up
11. Something ft. Syd
12. Black Void ft. Thundercat and Eryn Allen Kane 
13. This N That ft. Bryson Tiller & Kodak Black
14. Million Pieces ft. Teyana Taylor, Larry June and DJ Premier
15. Get You Back ft. Cash Cobain
16. Certified ft. Nasaan
17. Focus (skit) 
18. Boundaries 
19. Precision 
20. My Life ft. Ellie Goulding / Happiness (skit)
21. Together Forever ft. Alchemist (bonus)
22. Yes (vinyl version)
23. Million Pieces ft. Tish Hyman and Larry June (vinyl version)

Photo Credit: Kalyn Oyer