I Decided
| Big Sean
I Decided
I Decided (stylized as I Decided.) is the fourth studio album by American rapper Big Sean. It was released on February 3, 2017, by Def Jam Recordings and GOOD Music. The album features guest appearancesfrom Jeremih, Eminem, Jhen Aiko (credited as the duo Twenty88 with himself), The-Dream, Migos, Flint Chozen Choir and Starrah. The production on the album was handled by Sean's frequent collaborator Key Wane, alongside a variety of record producers such as Amaire Johnson, Metro Boomin, WondaGurl, Fuse, Tre Pounds, DJ Mustard, DJ Dahi, Detail and The Track Burnaz, among others. The album was supported by three singles: "Bounce Back", "Moves" and "Jump Out the Window". I Decided received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. It is Sean's second US number-one album. The album was certified Platinumby the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
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Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Nothing on I Decided., however, suggests that he has gained perspective worth sharing or to which he should devote a whole album. He continues to be a talented pop act attempting to be something he is not.
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Rolling Stone
Big Sean is still finding himself. On I Decided, a mostly searing collection of introspective rhymes and light trap beats, he comes one step closer to a more self-assured sense of his space in the pantheon of today’s most powerful and famous rappers.
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Consequence of sound
I Decided. is a fresh statement that proves Big Sean is continuing to evolve.
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Hot New Hiphop
I Decided sees him further coming into his own and maturing, and we don't need the disembodied voice of "Old Sean" to tell us that.
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Dj Booth
I Decided is Big Sean’s alarm clock, his chance to awake all those who have slept on him, and reinforce all the voices who have sung his praise.
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Hiphop DX
I really like this album. It’s Big Sean in his essence.
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Medium
It’s a shame that I Decided. is basically a series of recycled feelings and sounds
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XXL Mag
Big Sean rises to the occasion on I Decided., arguably the best album of his career, and one that secures his spot as one of the top five artists in hip-hop today.
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Cryptic Rock
Overall, I Decided is a well-rounded album full of deep emotion delivered in street packaging. Exploring different scenarios and situations, lusty and heavy beats combined with wider ranges and verses presented in early days of Rap and R&B make it a potent piece of work.
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Clash Magazine
While it's undoubtedly a solid addition to Sean's catalogue, at the end of 'I Decided.' it's the flows and instrumentals that are left with the listener, having upstaged what Sean is actually trying to say.
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Pretty Much Amazing
On I Decided, these subjects don’t always make for the most engaging album, but they reflect Big Sean’s character. He’s a man of integrity, a positive force in the world, and as solid a role model as any. Your mother will love him.
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Entertainment World
I Decided doesn’t push boundaries — instead, it’s a skilled synthesis of the many strains of rap currently flourishing, from nods to Drake and Future to the Chance-tinged gospel of “Bigger Than Me.”
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Aztec Music Group
A spoken diary and narrative combination that includes heavy meditations upon both dark and light themes with bangers included.
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Tiny Mixtapes
I Decided. is the latest chapter in his average brand of hero-worshiping gospel. He is a welcome change from the inheritors and the try-hards; he brings a tired smile to the face.
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Uproxx
Ultimately, it’s Sean’s nonsensical, uneven content that keeps him and I Decided from a leap into the upper echelon of rap. He’s right there, but this grasp at a conceptual album falls just short.
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The Musical Hype
Big Sean is in introspective mode on his fourth studio album, ‘I Decided.’ Although imperfect, he showcases newfound maturity.
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Super Ego
Oh wait, What a surprise! Big Sean's whole album is about how he has evolved, AND about his whole journey.
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Blavity
In comparison to Dark Sky Paradise, Big Sean's latest effort I Decided is a far way off from the level of discipline he displayed on the former.
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Still Screw
In the end, even though this project won’t be the one to mark his career by, Big Sean continues to prove that he’s just one gear away from rising to the occasion to make “that” defining album.
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Campus Vinyl
Looking back at I Decided, Sean has clearly matured from his past music style that relied heavily on silly punch lines and adlibs, and has matured to rapping about more essential issues.
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Maroon Weekly
With it’s pop feels and rap backbone, “I Decided.” stays upbeat and pulses positive sounds through the speakers from the first track to the last.
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The Diamondback
In the past, Big Sean has taken a back seat to his featured artists; but on I Decided., he excels as the shot caller.
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Click on Detroit
"I Decided" continues this, but it's perfected even further. It's clearly his best project yet.
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Odyssey
"I Decided." was not only an acquisition of maturity for Big Sean, but it was also a reality check. The haunting production, intriguing narrative, and interesting music shows that he will never take anything for granted. Which is a thought process that is different from most rappers. Great album.
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The Black Juice
When I started to see all the claims on social media about his work being slept on, I was eager to listen to his new album I Decided, and I was not disappointed in the slightest.
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Weebly
All in all, Big Sean comes through with a solid album for the beginning of 2017. This is an album that can be appreciated in bits and pieces, more-so than a whole project.
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NinerTimes
In the past, Big Sean has taken a back seat to his featured artists, but on “I Decided.,” he excels at calling the shots. With his fourth studio album, Big Sean took a legitimate step toward becoming a force to be reckoned with in the rap game.
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The Factory Times
In this album, Big Sean has decided to shed his youthful image for a more mature look. He traded his usual punch lines for hard hitting lyrics. This album can be played without skipping tracks, which is rare in our era of “mumble rap”.
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Celebrity Cafe
Songs on this album share similar themes of regret, time, mistakes and reflection.
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The Maine Campus
His lyricism in comparison with other big artists is sub-par, but the message he is trying to represent is very well presented. He definitely has a plan for this album and it will be interesting to see how other people will react to it.
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I do Music
I Decided. is Big Sean’s love letter to himself featuring his past and present self on the cover. He decided that he is the best rapper and proves himself with his hard hitting verbiage.
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Revolt
Big Sean's 'I Decided' album listening party proves he's more introspective than ever
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Northern Lights
This is something that I have never really experienced and found quite weird to happen during an album like this. But, I feel this album compares more to Big Sean of 2013 when he made ‘Hall Of Fame’, which is where he made his name.
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Be Briscoe
The album was fairly good. Like stated earlier, it is his most focused work to date.
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Focus Hip Hop
Yeah, this is Big Sean’s best album. It’s not good. It’s his best album tho. I’m impressed.
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ACRN
It’s not that I Decided. is a terrible album since it gives the listener good flows and good production from the likes of Metro Boomin and 808 Mafia, but everything else about it feels completely plain.
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In Suave We Trust
Big Sean’s I Decided had a lot going on, with majority and almost all of it being good. So let’s face it, the album has conflicting styles.
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Blasting News
"I Decided" proved to be less of a decision and more of a sign of indecision as to where to move forward. The album is both a step forward and a step in place as the Detroit rapper tries to forge a new path.
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Ronons Review
I can't find a downside to I Decided, it's another great album in the steadily improving discography of Big Sean.
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Pop Dust
I Decided. might sound a bit out of a place in today's trap-dominated rap catalog, but that's only because Big Sean nostalgically remains, for better or worse, in a more patient place of rap's history.
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Live from woodward
Overall this was a solid album. You can feel the conflict and growth of a man. That’s the interpretation I got from it.
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U Interview
There is no doubt that fame brings with it it’s own demons, but Big Sean’s sincerity about these fears is called into question whenever he snaps back into his old machismo punch lines. He certainly possesses the talent and support necessary to make an introspective album but he hasn’t fully committed to it on I Decided.
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Juwan Cohen
With that being said he killed it with I Decided. You can hear the maturity from when Finally Famous dropped.
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All Music
While I Decided. may not light up the club like his past efforts, it shines a different, more nurturing light onto deeper parts of his soul.
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Immortal Reviews
This album isn't perfect, but the good moments do stand out a lot. There's not necessarily a bad track on this album, either - the worst tracks are really just average ones.
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Pulse
Big Sean is growing fast and moody in “I Decided.” album
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Riff Magazine
I Decided is Big Sean’s proclamation to the rest of hip-hop. He’s grown up and ready to go at it with the industry’s best.
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Spectrum Pulse
What I take issue with is that this is interesting or compelling or that it doesn't firmly cement Big Sean as a near permanent b-lister in modern hip-hop at best, and with this album he may have become blandly competent, but at the price of sounds and humor that tried harder than this.
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Samad Robinson
I like the album not a whole lot, but maybe I gotta give the songs a few more listens before I can give a solid opinion on the album.
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Commedia
If a few songs are cut here or there, this album is likely talked about as one of the best rap albums of the last few years. It is Sean’s best album to date, but he is still a few key elements away from making a classic album.
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The High End Theory
It’s clear ‘I Decided.’ was an attempt at marking a milestone in Big Sean’s career, a concept project intended to showcase the rapper’s claim that he could make ‘deeper’ cuts and mingle with the big dogs praised for their lyrical intelligence.
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IB Times
Certainly, I Decided is not the first time Big Sean has offered a reflective look at his life and success. However, this is perhaps his most confident music yet.
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Everything's Magnificient
Overall, I pray that Sean had truly decided to move with more direction and purpose in the future. He has shown himself to have incredible talent and a great heart.
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HipHop n more
I Decided is an absolute step forward for Big Sean’s rapping ability, but not a song making one. Dark Sky Paradise found Big Sean running laps around his past work, both commercially and critically, and while I Decided is hardly a misstep, it finds the rapper running on a treadmill.
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Roman's Rap-Up
I Decided is a strong contender for one of the best projects the Detroit-rapper has released. On each track, Big Sean proves he is not to be reckoned with. Leading the album with the previous release of singles “Bounce Back” and “Moves,” the bar was set high, and it does in fact live up to the expectations.
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The Daily
While this album tends to suffer for its cohesiveness and its propensity for dramatic struggle bars, it is also the least annoying project he has ever released. The production is great, the hooks are there, and the songwriting is more advanced and structured than most of Big Sean’s previous music.
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The Florida Basement
Fans had very high expectations for Big Sean after waiting nearly two years for his next album, but I Decided lived up to the hype. Early projections of sales show it as being one of Sean’s most successful albums.
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Hand me the aux
I Decided ends on the best track of the album. He realizes his current situation and returns to his roots.
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The Fresh Committe
Similarly, Big Sean’s lyrical performance throughout I Decided. has an uninspired complexion to it. Although this album averages between four and five writers per song, these tracks consistently lack inventive substance or thematic relevance
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Odd Verbs
I Decided largely sidesteps Big Sean strengths and exposes his weaknesses. It isn't the definitive album Big Sean was aiming for neither will it push him past his position in the conversation of the best rapper of his generation.
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The Nevada SageBrush
“I Decided” is full of Big Sean making attempts at profound introspections, and a few actually land.
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UNF
With some truly promising highs and fairly predictable lows, I Decided showcases a Big Sean who has matured, while maintaining the youthful energy and playfulness that kept him on the tip of everyone’s tongue, for better or worse.
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Bearded Gentlemen Music
I DECIDED | NOTHING PROFOUND OR INTERESTING
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NYU
It seems that somebody (or everybody) at Complex REALLY loves Big Sean, and particularly his new album, “I Decided.”
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Ruby Hornet
I Decided is Big Sean at his artistic best. He hasn’t lost a step since we first heard him.
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The New Englanger
The album overall is a change in direction from Sean’s usual subject matter and sound.
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Stereo Board
At best, it might make you dance - though the beats are pretty anonymous, too. At worst, it actually promotes negative stereotypes and devalues the way we speak to each other.
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My Shitty Music Opinions
Overall, it's a solid album. Big Sean is evolving into a less corny and more serious and consistent rapper, but also a more boring one at the same time.
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New Paltz Oracle
I Decided is undoubtedly his best album. It’s still not good enough.
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La Vista
Big Sean’s new album “I Decided” reveals a surprisingly sensitive side to the rapper
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Bring Your Own Dad
"I Decided," shows Big Sean's maturation in the rap game and a steady improvement throughout his career. Every album has been better than the last and that's all you can ask from an artist. I give this album an A-, If you haven't heard it yet I recommend you do, you won't be disappointed.
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Breakfast & Jazz
I Decided. was a solid project and the best work to date from the Detroit rapper. Although he still seems to lack a style distinguishable from other more mainstream rappers such as Drake, Big Sean is certainly making progress and paying his dues in this new era of hip-hop in America.
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14hq
However, I still feel as though Sean is maybe an album or two away from producing a classic or a really great album. But he is certainly going about it the right way and anyone’s failure to acknowledge his ability at this point is just showing sheer signs of ignorance. The boy is good!!
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The Hoya
“I Decided.” has stronger lyrics, more memorable production, and is more cohesive than his past efforts. It presents two alternate ways to live life: passively, or in the moment and to the fullest.
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The Orion
I Decided is no doubt Big Sean’s best work to date and is definitely a must listen for hip-hop heads and listeners everywhere.
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