Big Sean Opens Up About Jay Z, Jhené AIko, And More In GQ
Big Sean and Jhené Aiko are picture perfect in GQ Style.
After stepping out together at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, where Sean performed “Bounce Back” and “Moves,” the Detroit spitter poses alongside his girlfriend for the latest issue of the fashion magazine.
During the interview, Sean reveals what fans should expect from him and his TWENTY88 partner this year. “I put out my album [I Decided.], obviously she’s working on her album, so TWENTY88 is in the works,” he said. “I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s definitely actively being worked on, and we really, really want to get it out this year for just the fans, the people who appreciated the project and appreciated the effort, ’cause it took a lot of effort to just do something aside from what I was doing and what she was doing. We appreciate the love for it and we look forward to delivering something special. We’re not slowing down.”
See more of what Sean shared about the tour, his album, and the Roc-A-Fella chain he received from Jay Z below.
ON I DECIDED.’S CONCEPT: “Every project I try to change it up for the better, show a different side of what I’m creating and the music I’m making or what I’m going through. I feel like Dark Side Paradise was a very good, well-rounded album, but the only reason I Decided. has a story to it is just ’cause that was how I was feeling. It was something that was real true to me, and how I truly felt in real life. So I wasn’t out to make a concept album, it kind of like fell into place as the songs developed and ideas developed. But I also felt like it was very right for the time, especially at the beginning of 2017–I wanted to leave that message that when you get yourself right individually, that’s how you really progress and you really boss up at life. I feel like that’s a message that a lot of people needed to hear, and I wasn’t really hearing it that much in music right now, so I just wanted to play my part.”
ON HIS TOUR: “Very high production value. I mean we’re playing a lot of theaters, Radio City Music Hall, a lot of venues like that that’re legendary to me. And they’re somewhat intimate too–not that small, but they are intimate. I feel like in any of the venues we’re playing you can feel every single person in there and they can feel your energy. So I’m looking forward to that aspect of it. We really want to give people a show that when they walk away from kind of a similar way we want people to feel when they’re done listening to the album. Like, ‘Man, that was just good vibes, a really good feeling, that got me supercharged, ready to take on any shit I gotta deal with, anything coming up.’ It’s something I’ve never seen done, too, so I’m excited about that. I’ve never seen it executed like what we’re doing for the tour–like the concept of it, the story of it, the production of it, the exact setup. It’s really cool. It definitely is a production. Me and my creative team always sit down and try to do something different. I haven’t done a headlining tour in a while, and I think it’s overdue, and I think we really will deliver an experience for people every night.”
ON JAY Z GIFTING HIM A ROC-A-FELLA CHAIN: “I thought that was real cool. I’m managed by Roc Nation, so I’m always getting knowledge from him, I get to talk with him, play music with him, stuff like that. I think it was just cool for him to do that, I know he doesn’t give too many of those out. It kind of felt like a respect, you know what I mean? People like Jay Z, they’ve done so much in the game that when they humble themselves and show interest and like spread the stuff that they’ve learned with you, give you the knowledge that they’ve acquired, I think that’s real cool for people who been in the game to do that, for people who’re still getting into it. I just think it was a gesture of respect and love.”
ON FASHION INFLUENCES: “There were definitely influences on me that keep coming up during my life, Kanye, Pharrell—I mean Jay influenced all of us in some way shape or form. But just over the years, you know, style is just really how you feel honestly, it’s an extension of how you feel on the inside. You know what I mean. That’s what I’ve been recognizing more and more, is that when whatever you want to do, what you’re wearing, that’s when you feel the best, not when you’re trying to dress like other people or anybody else. But I definitely get inspiration from ‘Ye, from Pharrell, from Nigo, from a lot of people like that.”
