After letting the anticipation build for a few weeks, Big Sean finally announced that his sixth studio album, Better Me Than You, will launch on Friday (Aug. 30). He shared the official artwork on Monday (Aug. 26), though fans will have to wait for the full tracklist — likely to prevent further leaks.
“The album is dropping this week. I appreciate my mom for being that guardian angel [and] always giving me that advice. She really talked me through it for real. Like I said, I haven’t been sleeping a lot. I [have] been giving this s**t my all. I’m burned the f**k out. I’m tired. I do this s**t for the people that f**k with me,” he shared on Instagram Live.
The “Beware” artist added, “I’m excited. That’s one thing my mom said, ‘Get excited! Drop — your album is fire!’ Everyone around me keeps saying that.” Big Sean further noted that he will host listening parties in New York City, Los Angeles and his hometown of Detroit to promote the LP.
Ahead of Better Me Than You, Big Sean rolled out a slew of singles. “Precision” arrived in late March, but in an “Out of Context” chat with Charlamagne tha God, the rapper admitted the timing couldn’t have been worse with the whole Drake-Kendrick Lamar feud. “I hadn’t even dropped music in years, bro, and I’m just [now returning], so I understood. I was surprised, too,” he said.
July’s “Yes” took a more up-tempo approach while August’s “On Up” was dedicated to his son with Jhené Aiko, Noah Hasani. The accompanying visuals for the last-mentioned track saw the Aries star soaking up fatherhood. Serving as the presumable final pre-release offering, “Together Forever” with The Alchemist came out on Aug. 16.
Amid the lead-up to his forthcoming project, Big Sean has also appeared on Cash Cobain and Laila!’s “Not My Problem (Remix)” and teamed up with Jessie Reyez for “SHUT UP.”