Big Sean and Metro Boomin’s Double Or Nothin project has been out for over 15 hours now, and the internet is giving mixed feedback. Many people took to Twitter to let it be known that they feel the album is a bit underwhelming, bogged down especially by outright bad lines by Big Sean. The “Big Sean” Twitter feed has more than a couple people calling out what they feel are wack lines which do little justice to Metro’s soundscape. Big Sean is one of the wittiest rhymers in mainstream hip-hop, but even Steph Curry airballs sometimes.
Me : *plays big Sean*
Big Sean :“ I had a dream I rode with Rosa Parks in the back of the Bach, and we was blowin a blunt and she was packing a strap”
Me: pic.twitter.com/3MlmKDXR7E
— luisa (@itsluisagibson) December 8, 2017
Big Sean really said “I wanna move in my safe, like my safe was a safehouse” & I immediately restored my laptop back to factory settings just to get that shit outta my library.
— Mark Mane La Flare (@BossmanJiggetts) December 8, 2017
What’s also getting attention is an apparent shot he threw back at Kendrick Lamar on “Big Bidness.” Kendrick and Big Sean have been at each other’s neck seemingly since “Control,” where Kendrick famously hi-jacked Sean’s song to call out the entire rap game. Sean left the song off the album and later implied it was “too negative” in an interview. The two have been throwing subliminal shots since then on various tracks and in interviews. After a couple light volleys back and forth, Sean said the following on 2016’s “No More Interviews:”
And I can’t lie like I like this shit like I usually do
And I’m just not impressed by you n—-s rapping fast
Who sound like one big asthma attack but trash when I’m rapping it back
Who you put in your top five and claim they the savior of rap
On Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 4”, he said, “my fans can’t wait for me to son ya’ punk ass and crush your whole lil’ sh*t,” which was taken as a shot back at Big Sean.
Now Sean is apparently clapping back at Kendrick, letting him know on “Big Bidness” that “nobody sonning me / If I am a sun, I’m the one you look up to,” before adding “f*ck you.” Sean is doing well, but it’s a little tenuous to say someone who broke records this year (and sits high up on our top song and album lists) is looking up to him. Maybe he could’ve chosen a sharper angle if this is indeed a shot back.
Regardless, it appears neither MC is ready to graduate the sub-fest into a full out battle – or provide the other fodder to do such. But a little healthy jabbing to keep everyone honest won’t hurt. Hip-hop history is littered with cold wars between artists who subbed each other for a period of time but later collaborated or worked past the pettiness. But it’s also worth noting that a lot of hip-hop’s most contentious “beefs” have started from subliminal shots. Time will tell which route this situation goes.
