“This might be the happiest day of my life,” Big Sean tells his fans during his packed show at Terminal 5 last night. Alongside The Source Magazine, Def Jam Records and Hot 97, Big Sean put together a complimentary concert to celebrate the release of sophomore studio album Hall of Fame. He continues to the crowd, “I appreciate when times like this come around, giving back to the fans.” And that is exactly what Sean did.
Gracing the stage for over an hour, Big Sean turned NYC upside down while performing tracks from the new album like “Toyota Music,” “Mona Lisa” and “You Don’t Know.” The GOOD Music rapper also dipped into his catalog performing tracks like “Ass,” “I Don’t Like” and “Mercy.” The night was dedicated to the fans so Big Sean had a few surprises lined up for the crowd’s pleasure. Juicy J who also released his album Stay Trippy yesterday joined the Detroit rapper to perform “Show Out.” On top of Juicy J, the Taylor Gang capo Wiz Khalifa joined Sean on stage to perform “Gang Bang” from his Cabin Fever mixtape.
The journey to Hall of Fame has been life changing and adventurous for Big Sean. Various times throughout his performance he broke down the origin of the tracks from on Hall of Fame. Throughout the album he mentions his parents who played a big role in his life and during the performance of his current single “Fire,” the rapper embraced his father on stage for the celebratory track. After performing another powerful track from the album, “World Ablaze,” the Detroit rapper goes in depth with the crowd, encouraging them regardless of what obstacles come their way they should never give up and to follow their dreams. Before closing out, Londell McMillan awarded Big Sean with his cover in honor of his album and the magazine’s 16th Annual Power 30 issue.
After the show I had the pleasure of seeing art turned to reality; similar to the first track on the new album “Nothing is Stopping You,” Big Sean’s took a break from the autographs and pictures with fans to listen to an aspiring rapper’s quick 16. After giving a fan the chance of a lifetime Sean discussed with The Source how he approached recording Hall of Fame. “I went in to find direction of the album, I came to the point where I wanted to embrace great songs instead of just great rap verses. Above that to be a great artist you need to have great concepts, I focused more on the song writing and musicality of this album.”
Big Sean’s did indeed show his growth as a songwriter during the show. Performances could be felt during tracks like “First Chain” and his energy engulfed the room for tracks like “Guap” and “10 2 10.”
Hall of Fame is now available for purchase on iTunes HERE.
-Dru Ashe (@ShottaDru)
-Photos By Alex Mateo & Retina Stewart
