After taking a year off to recover from some mental health issues, Big Sean is back with a passion for rap and a new project on the way. The first wave of new music from the Detroit-born MC includes his “Overtime” freestyle, an appearance alongside fellow hometown hero Kash Doll on “Ready Set,” and the tender breakup song “Single Again” featuring Ty Dolla Sign and, surprisingly, Sean’s ex, Jhene Aiko. The latter got the video treatment today with a short film shot in Detroit and directed by Lawrence Lamont.
The video opens with a clever shot of children chasing a garbage truck full of rose petals through the suburbs, symbolizing the way dreams for the future can take a turn for the worse. Meanwhile, Sean’s co-stars, actors Keith Powers and Ryan Destiny, navigate through a series of post-breakup tableaus familiar to anyone who’s felt the shock of deja vu in the wake of a defunct romance. Comedian Haha Davis also makes a cameo to hilariously highlight the multitudinous ways social media disrupts the joys of courtship and adds stress and speculation to already stressful situations.
Big Sean says that the video “has a lot of important messages, but the main one is for people to ‘wake up and smell the roses’ in a world where we wake up and check our phones instead.” A good reminder, but with Sean preparing for the release of a new project, he’s actually given us all one more reason to check our phones as we wait for news on its eventual release.
