New Music: Big Sean - 'Overtime'
Big Sean is putting in “Overtime.”
It’s been over two years since the Detroit rapper released a solo album, but he makes a triumphant return. On “Overtime,” produced by Hit-Boy, Key Wane, and Milo, “Mixtape Sean” raps about overcoming obstacles, mental health, and putting on for his city (“Me and Em knocked down doors for y’all that was locked once”).
“Shit, I didn’t take a break, my ni**a, I broke / Broke my heart, broke my soul, don’t cry for me though,” he raps. “If you don’t break nothing down, then it’s no room to grow / One mental block leads to another, shit is dominoes.”
He ends by teasing a new album, which may be the sequel to his 2012 mixtape Detroit. “I know which ones that’s been rockin’ with me since the prequel,” he raps over JAY-Z’s “Hovi Baby” instrumental. “Just be cool / I know your favorite one, dawg / I’m ’bout to drop the sequel / Ni**a, this just the preview, Don.”
Sean has been keeping a low profile over the past year. In honor of his 31st birthday in March, he opened up about his struggle with mental health and revealed that he’s been in the studio “making the best music of my life.” After taking some time to “rediscover” himself, he is now readying a new project, his first since 2017’s I Decided and Double or Nothing, his collaborative album with Metro Boomin.
“I just been returning to my roots, bro. I’ve just been getting back to having fun with it,” he told Zane Lowe on Beats 1. “At one point I felt like it might have started to become like a burden, or like work, but now it’s just fun. So this is just me having fun bro, expressing myself. It was a time well spent. I never really knew how important it was to take some time for myself and get myself right.”
Sean recently teamed up with Kash Doll on “Ready Set” and has collaborated with Lil Wayne for his upcoming album Funeral.