Big Sean Bio

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Denis Loncaric

Denis is a drummer and full-time music content writer. His love of Hip Hop comes from the style of gospel drummers. His taste in artists varies from favorites like Eminem to Serbian rap artists like Edo Majkaa and Marchelo.

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• Big Sean Bio - August 9, 2022

Sean Michael Leonard Anderson or, as we all know him, Big Sean is a world-wide known American rapper, songwriter, and entrepreneur. You probably knew him from his hit single back in 2014, I Don’t F*** With You, or if you are a fan of the long run, you have been there since his first steps and singles like Get’cha Some from 2007.

Overall, Sean gained massive fame in 2010 when he signed a deal with Def Jem and GOOD Music, and soon enough, his music career skyrocketed. 

Today, I am going to make a complete Big Sean bio. This is mainly because being a young rapper in the USA is tough, and finding your way to the top as a 19-year-old black male is always a rough patch. At the end of the day, I have to give him some credit!

Sean managed to do some incredible things, stay humbled, and provide us with some good hits that I highly appreciate. Before I dive into his private life, career, and hit albums, let’s jump on to quick facts to find the basic things about Sean Michael Leonard Anderson.

Big Sean Quick Facts

Big Sean Birthplace

Sean was born in Santa Monica, California, in the United States of America, back in 1988. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Sean left Santa Monica with his mother when he was only a baby, to be precise when Sean was three months old. 

I assume his parents got divorced, although this is not officially confirmed. At that period, Sean was living in Detroit, Michigan, and was raised by his mother, grandmother, and school teacher. 

Fun fact, his grandmother was kind of a hero. Sean’s grandma, Mildred Leonard, was the first black female captain in the U.S. Army during World War II. Incredible, right? I bet you did not know that because, honestly, neither did I.

Aside from that, Anderson was schooled in Detroit. His education began at the Detroit Waldorf School, and he graduated from Cass Technical High School.

Big Sean Parents

Sean Michael’s parents are his mother, Myra Anderson, and father, James Anderson. Mira was born and raised in the United States; however, her personal life information is kept private. 

Her husband, James Anderson, is also American, but there is also no further information about his early life. James and Myra were married and might still be married, for what I know, but this is only speculation. Although I assume the couple divorced when Sean was only three months old and he moved with his mother to another city. 

There is also speculation that Gregg Pluta and Chris Jinkins are Sean’s brothers, but I do not know how they are related. There is not a lot of personal information about their parents, but I assume they are well-educated people. Take this info as speculation because there is no reliable data to back up this information.

Big Sean Early Life

From a young age, Sean lived with his mother and grandmother, who told him the principles of working hard and being terminated. Sean went to the Waldorf school, which was a private school in Detroit, from kindergarten.

From a young age, he was exposed to various arts and cultures. When Sean went to high school, he made some long-life friendships and started building his music pathway. The name of his school was Cass Technical High School, and that was a period when Sean gained his first fans and support from his peers. 

When Big Sean, then only known as Sean, was still in high school in his current city of Detroit, he came into contact with the Detroit hip-hop station WHTD. This was a great chance for young Anderson to demonstrate his rapping skills for the first time. He showed off by rapping in a weekly rap battle organized by the station. 

A bit later, the already famous Kanye West interviewed 102.7 FM and heard about this rap battle. This was an excellent chance for Sean to show off his rapping skills and hidden talent. However, according to some sources, Kanye was not the most excited about this endeavor. 

West gave Sean a mix tape, to be precise, 16 bars to rap for him, which he did. Kanye was satisfied; he eventually offered the rapper on the rise a contract two years later. Sean signed a deal with GOOD Music, and since then, he has made some incredible hit singles and albums. 

West was not wrong about him, but he definitely doubted giving him a chance. 

Big Sean Professional Career

Sean’s career skyrocketed once he signed a contract with GOOD Music. In the same year, 2007, Sean released his new and first mixtape called Finally Famous. The mixtape also had a video for his song’ Get’cha Some,’ which received big media attention and was a huge hit. 

A few years later, he released he is next mixtape. On the 16th of April, 2009, Sean released his UKNOWBIGSEAN mixtape. This one had an incredible 30 hits on it, including ‘Supa Dupa’ and ‘Million Dollars.’ Mick Boogie produced this mixtape.

About a year later, on the 31st of August, 2010, Sean released his third official mixtape: Finally Famous Vol. 3: BIG. This mixtape had 20 tracks on it and was hosted by Don Cannon. The mixtape features some fantastic artists such as Drake, Chip the Ripper, Tyga, Bun B, and many others. 

Big Seans’ First Debut Album

Less than a year later, after the release of his third mixtape, Sean’s first debut album was out! In June 2011, Finally Famous was finally out. However, there were some delays due to “sample and feature clearance issues,” as explained, but it wasn’t anything significant to affect his album. 

The album made a big success since it sold 87,000 copies in its only first week. His first studio album had three great hits: Marvin & Chardonnay, My Last, and Dance (As*). Also, the debut album reached number 3 on US Billboard 200, which was huge for new artists like Sean.

He had some great stars featuring his album, like Kanye, Pharrell  Williams, Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, Pusha T, fabulous Nicki Minaj, John Legend, and many more.

At that period, Sean did not only release mixtapes and albums, but he also made some collaborations and did some producing. He did a feature on a hit, Lay It on Me, by Kelly Rowland and did some producing and writing with Hit-Boy.

In 2012 GOOD Music released a compilation album named Cruel Summer. Their lead single ‘Mercy’ features rising Big Sean, Kanye West, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz. At that point, Big Sean announced his upcoming fourth mixtape. The name of it would be ‘Detroit,’ which would lead to his second official studio album.

He released short versions of the hit to promote the mixtape on his official YouTube channel. Not long after, the mixtape was released, and French Montana, Kendrick Lamar, Tyga, and J. Cole were just some of the fantastic fellow rapper’s features on his mixtape.

Second studio album and Dark Sky Paradise

Unfortunately, Big Sean’s second studio album ‘Half of Fame’ had some delays, but it was officially released on the 27th of August, 2013. This album was described as classic, with some amazing artists like Miguel, Lil Wayne, and Nas again.

The amazing thing was that Sean stated he was in the studio with his fellow Detroit citizen and rap icon Eminem. Two legends in the same room, incredible, am I right? Although Eminem is the best rapper of all time, I also have to respect Sean. 

The Hall of Fame had some fantastic people in production, such as Key Wane, No I.D, Travis Scott, Kate Dean, and a few more. Believe it or not, Sean stated that he had started working on his next official third album before the second one was published. He was working, and he did work very hard. 

Soon enough, in 2014, Anderson announced that Roc Nation had signed a contract as his management company. On the same day, the 12th of September, Sean released his biggest hit ever, ‘I Don’t F*** with You,’ alongside ‘Jit/Juke’ ‘4th Quarter’ and ‘Paradise.’ 

Since we all expected his upcoming new album, Sean released a cover album on the 25th of January 2015 to tease his fans. Again, this album has had some fantastic artists, including Kanye, Drake, DJ Mustard, Travis Scott, and his future girlfriend to be Ariana Grande. 

His third debut album was his most significant success because it reached number 1 on Billboard 200 and sold over 173,000 copies in its first week! Way to go, Sean! The album was officially released on the 24th of February, 2015 named Dark Sky Paradise.

After releasing his second studio album a year, Dark Sky Paradise became certified platinum. Some of the album’s singles were ‘I Know,’ ‘Play No Games’, ‘IDFWU,’ and ‘Blessings,’ among many others. At the end of 2015, Anderson released a song recapping the year behind called ‘What A Year’ featuring Pharrell Williams and Detail.

New albums and mixtapes

In March 2016, Big Sean released a new single to celebrate his birthday called ‘Get My Shit Together.’ A few days later, he announced his debut studio album with Jhené Aiko named Twenty88. This album was presented by hip-hop duo Sean and Aiko and was released on April 5, 2016.

It is evident that these two had some things going on between them, but this was officially confirmed with their short movie Out of Love. This episode consisted of a few recordings from their joint album. 

In the October of the same year, Anderson published a new lead single, “Bounce Back,” from his fourth and upcoming studio album. The album’s name was ‘I Decided’ and was officially released on 3d of February 2017. For making this album, Sean got help from Jay Z, a king himself, and Rick Rubin, which significantly impacted him.

Before realizing it, his fourth studio album reached the top of the Billboard 200. This was again a massive success for Sean since, at only 28 years, he has 2 of his debut album reached the top of the Billboard 200. Hands down. And, not so long after ‘I Decided’ was released, the album became certified gold.

An amazing thing happened just about when he released his fourth studio album. Apparently, Anderson received the Key to the City of Detroit. This was because he made a huge contribution to the city with his Sean Anderson Foundation. Bet this was one of the proudest moments Sean has experienced. 

At the end of 2017, Big Sean, Metro Boomin, and 21 Savage published their song ‘Pull Up N Wreck.’ Not long after, Big Sean announced that he would release his second collaborative album with Metro, and it would be named ‘Double or Nothing.’

Officially, the collaboration album was released on December 8, 2017, and included some other notable rappers such as Young Thug, Travis Scott, 21 Savage, 2 Chainz, 21 Savage, and a few more iconic rappers.

New Record Detroit 2

After a while, Sean released his solo single in July 2019, after the pause of two years from his previous solo hit. The song title was ‘Overtime,’ produced by some of his closest friends, Key Wane, Hit-Boy, and the Tucker Brothers.

In the same month, Anderson released the single ‘Single Again.’ On this track, he had some help on the background vocals from Ty Dolla Sign and his ex-love Jhené Aiko. 

Little that everyone knows, Sean was preparing us a new album that he announced on his 32nd birthday. The name of the album will be Detroit 2, and as a teaser, Sean released its lead single, ‘ Deep Reverence.’ The song features legendary but unfortunately deceased Nipsey Hussle.

Sean’s official last album (for now), Detroit 2, came out on the 4th of September, 2020. Like all of his previous albums, this album has some fantastic featured artists such as Lil Wayne – as expected, incredible and his town-pal Eminem, and his love Jhené Aiko.

Once again, Sean did something incredible. He managed to get another or, to be precise, the third album of his that reached number one on the Billboard 200. What a guy! 

In the same month of publishing his fifth studio album, he announced another collaborative album – Twenty88, was in the making. But this year was something else for young Sean! The same year he announced that he intended to start his record label.

Less than a year ago, in October 2021, Big Sean announced on Twitter that he was leaving GOOD Music label after their 14 years of collaboration.

Okay, to be clear, they didn’t end up on bad terms; as Sean said, that’s a life-long friendship with Kanye, but he started thinking about his own business, and he felt that this was the right call for him.

Despite Sean announcing lifelong brotherhood, Kanye did not share his thoughts. He claimed that signing Sean was ‘the worst thing he has ever done. 

Weird, though; apparently, Kanye was offended that Sean did not support him in his election…Okay, not our business! Moreover, at the same time, Anderson announced his leaving GOOD Music; he also published a new EP called ‘What You Expect’ in collaboration with Hit-Boy. 

A little bit later, at the beginning of 2022, Sean confirmed the long-expecting Twenty88 album as a collaboration with his previous love and, luckily, a current girlfriend, Jhené Aiko.

Big Sean Video 

The most popular video of Big Sean and, at the same time, his greatest hit is ”I Don’t F*** With You” featuring E-40. This video counts over 378 million views, and honestly, if this song came out this year, I think it would be an even bigger hit! However, 378 million is huge, and no one can deny that. The song came out in 2014 and was a big club hit.

In second place is Big Sean’s music video for his song ‘Bounce Back.’ The song came out in 2016 and counts over 185 million views today—another great success. However, Big Sean is probably most famous for his features.

For example, one of the most popular ones is with Justin Bieber on the song ‘As Long As You Love Me.’ This song came out nine years ago and had almost 500 million views.

Half a billion people, that’s impressive! However, his appearance on one of his ex-girlfriend Ariana Grande’s greatest hits, ‘One Less Problem,’ made a huge blast. This video counts 1.3 billion views, and you can find Big Sean appearing and singing the back vocals in the video.

Aside from great music videos, Big Sean has 3 out of 5 albums that scored No.1 on Billboard 200, over 88.8 million streams, and sold over 30,300 copies of his albums. These are some numbers, to be honest, especially if we consider the high competition he has on the worldwide rap scene. 

Big Sean Family 

Big Sean is currently dating his past love Jhene Aiko, and they are happily expecting their first child together. The couple started dating back in 2016 when they published their collaborative album. Since then, they have been popular for their off-and-on relationship, but the cause of this has never been officially revealed. 

However, their relationship has always been bumpy. They will be seen together and then calling it quits before being seen celebrating Grammy’s and birthdays together again. A hallmark of a Hollywood relationship. 

Even though those two seem pretty happy around each other, the speculations of them dating again, and this time for real, were confirmed once when the rapper published his IG story that he can’t wait to be a dad.

At the same time, Aiko published a picture of herself from a young age, holding her tummy. Aiko and Sean will be mom and dad in a couple of months. Fun fact, Aiko is already a mom of a beautiful 13-year-old Namiko Love with her ex-love singer O’Ryan, but I do not doubt that the couple is eagerly waiting for their first baby!

Big Sean Dating and Relationship History

I cannot deny that Sean is not famous for dating a few beauties of the Hollywood scene. The most popular one would probably be Ariana Grande. However, even before he met Ariana, Sean had been engaged with the former Glee actress and beauty herself, Naya Rivera.

They started dating around 2013 and soon got engaged, but that did not last long. The couple called off their relationship plans and marriage in April 2014. 

It might be rude, but I was not surprised that the couple called off their relationship. Not long after their separation, Big Sean was dating American beauty and successful young singer Ariana Grande. However, Sean doesn’t like to be single because just after he ended his relationship with Grande, he began dating Jhene Aiko. 

Since 2016 he has been linked with Jhene and has been in a constant off-and-on relationship with this beauty. However, their relationship deepened once Aiko got pregnant at the beginning of 2022, and the couple is happily awaiting their first child together. 

Big Sean Controversies of Scandals 

It is almost impossible, okay, not nearly, but staying out of rumors and scandals is impossible when you are in Hollywood. Back in 2011, Big Sean was involved in a sexual assault.

Sean and Willie Antonio Hansbro committed a sexual assault on a 17-year-old girl during a concert in Buffalo. However, the case was not pursued further and ended with a plea deal.

Throughout his career, there were some rumors merely about him cheating on his girlfriends, but none of them were ever officially confirmed. The last scandal that happened to Big Sean was earlier this year.

Apparently, in February 2022, his naked picture was leaked all over the internet; however, Sean spoke up about it and claimed that this wasn’t him. 

Big Sean’s Net Worth and Career Earnings

Big Sean’s net worth is estimated at around $26 million. Sean’s earnings are reportedly around $8.5 million per year, which is quite a number!

Big Sean Real Estate & Residence History

In 2017 Big Sean bought a house from one and only Slash. The rapper purchased this house in 2017 from Guns N’ Roses guitarist for $8.7 million. To be honest, the mansion is not modest at all. Reportedly, his house has 10,971 square feet and occupies about half an acre. 

Apparently, Sean was not entirely satisfied with it because he decided to sell it four years later. In 2021 he sold his mansion in Beverly Hills for $11.1 million. 

However, do not worry about him; he did not stay homeless. Sean bought a beautiful mansion from Encino’s home for $8.7 million. He is currently living there with; I suppose he’s love and future baby momma Jhene Aiko. 

Big Sean Famous Quotes 

Rappers are pretty known for their interesting lyrics and their quotes as well. Big Sean had some of them, and I decided to pick my top 5. Let’s check them:

• #1 ‘It’s evolution, man. Eventually, the student becomes the teacher.’ – https://wealthygorilla.com/big-sean-quotes/ 
• #2 ‘You live and you learn, man. I’ve learned you can’t wait on anybody. You have to raise your awareness yourself’ – https://wealthygorilla.com/big-sean-quotes/ 
• #3 ‘The higher the goal, the harder the climb, but after that, the bigger the muscle, the smarter the mind.’ – https://www.quoteambition.com/big-sean-quotes/ 
• #4 ‘Fame necessarily isn’t really tied to success at all. Fame is just being recognized for doing what you do, whether it’s good or bad.’ – https://www.quoteambition.com/big-sean-quotes/ 
• #5 ‘My mistakes are my biggest professors and learning life lessons.’ – https://www.quoteambition.com/big-sean-quotes/  

Big Sean Discography & Full Credits 

Sean Michael Leonard Anderson has released:

• Five studio albums
• Two collaborative albums
• Four mixtapes
• One EP
• Forty-seven music videos
• Sixty-eight singles
• Eight promotional singles 

Studio Albums

• June, 2011: Finally Famous
• August, 2013: Hall of Fame
• February, 2015: Dark Sky Paradise
• February, 2017: I Decided
• September, 2020: Detroit 2

Collaborative albums

• April, 2016: Twenty88 with Jhene Aiko
• December, 2017: Double or Nothing with Metro Boomin

Mixtapes

• November, 2007: Finally Famous Vol. 1: The Mixtape
• April, 2009: Finally Famous Vol. 2: UKnowBigSean
• August, 2010: Finally Famous Vol. 3: BIG
• September, 2012: Detroit

EPs

October 29, 2021: What You Expect

Big Sean Awards

During his career, Big Sean had a total of 55 nominations. With such an impressive number, Sean managed to win 12 of them listed down below.

ASCAP Pop Awards for:

• Winning Songs in 2018 for “Bounce Back”

BET Awards:

• Best New Artist in 2012

BET Hip Hop Awards

• Reese’s Perfect Combo Award in 2012 for “Mercy” (with Kanye West, Pusha T & 2 Chainz)
• Best Mixtape in 2013 for Detroit
• Best Club Banger in 2015 for “I Don’t Fuck with You” ft. E-40
• Best Collabo, Duo or Groupin 2015 for “Blessings” ft. Drake & Kanye West
• People’s Champ Award in 2015 for “Blessings” ft. Drake & Kanye West
• Impact Track in 2015 for “One Man Can Change the World” ft. Kanye West and John Legend

MTV Video Music Awards

• Best Video with a Social Message in 2015 for “One Man Can Change the World” ft. Kanye West and John Legend
• Best Fight Against the System in 2017 for “Light”

Soul Train Music Awards

• Rhythm & Bars Award in 2012 for “Mercy” ft. Kanye West, Pusha T & 2 Chainz

YouTube Music Awards

• 50 Artists to Watch in 2015

Aside from his wins, he has been nominated for some greatest awards! Even though he didn’t win, just being nominated is still a big accomplishment. Let’s check them!

Billboard Music Awards in 2012, 2013, and 2015 for Top New Artist and Top New Song. 

Detroit Music Awards in 2017 and 2018 for Outstanding National Major Label Recording, Outstanding National Single, and Outstanding Video / Major Budget.

Grammy Awards in 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021 for Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Album of the Year, and Best Rap Performance.

FAQS

In Conclusion

Over 15 years of a fruitful career, Big Sean made some historical features, songs, and albums. He managed to have three out of four of his albums at the top of the Billboard 200. 

When Sean started, he was pretty young but found his way with his talent and persistence. Luckily, Kanye saw his potential and offered him a deal in 2007. That’s when everything started going uphill for young Anderson. Even though Sean and Kanye did not end up on good terms, apparently, according to West, no scandals came out of this. 

Big Sean is still creating some great singles and hits, he happily awaits to become a dad for the first time, and honestly, I do not doubt that he has some new music coming since he launched his own record label! Check out this Big Sean Bio if you want to learn more about him, and stay tuned folks. He sure has something prepared for his fans!

Research Citations

• Hip Hop DX Archive
• Detroit News
• Wealthy Gorilla
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Sean_discography