Days after addressing trolls and DJ Akademiks over suspected diss toward Kendrick Lamar in his new freestyle, Big Sean announced the release date of his anticipated album, Better Me Than You.
The Detroit rapper took to social media on Thursday, July 18, to reveal the album will be released on August 9 with a trailer. The trailer displays the evolved rap star down to the smallest molecule.
“The pressure of life—being a new dad, an artist growing, a human in development—and embracing it all led me to clarity on what I needed to focus on to find happiness,” he wrote on X. “The past few years making this album have been a journey, but I’m just glad we’re finally here.”
The announcement accompanies the album’s latest single, “Yes.” It features hard-hitting production and sees Sean confidently asserting his dominance.
With a visualizer, Sean raps, “I would rather give y’all my soul, I don’t have to sell it / Might take a piss off your rap Mount Rushmore after I scale it,” he raps, before name-dropping JAY-Z. “No broke talk, G.O.A.T. talk / Money talkin’ to me, like I don’t need no muthafuckin’ therapist / Brought it right back to the crib like it’s nowhere else to go / I was in North Carolina throwin’ up them pyramids with Hov.”
After Sean’s freestyle was suspected of attacking Ye, formerly Kanye West, hackers allegedly leaked his album online. The rapper did, however, preview a verse from an unreleased song produced by Ye.
The rollout of Sean’s new album has been a bumpy one since he originally announced it in February. After releasing a freestyle that pokes at the alleged Big 3, Kendrick, Drake, and J. Cole began their feud. This was followed by the potential album leak, which the hacker said was on Ye’s orders.
The leaker wrote, “Since he wanna disrespect Ye so much, here’s the album, fuck him and his whole team,” and alleged, “Ye told me to leak it.”
In total, 14 files were leaked, including collaborations with Nas, Brent Faiyaz, Charlie Wilson, The-Dream, and Sean’s girlfriend Jhené Aiko. It’s unclear whether Kanye is behind the leak, but Big Sean addressed the issue on social media.
“Might as well start droppin, before they leak it all, god damn. BIG SEAN x THE ALCHEMIST soon,” he wrote on X, sharing a snippet of an upcoming collaboration with the legendary producer.
In other news, Big Sean will release a mental wellness book in October. In music, Sean is featured on Eminem’s new album, The Death of Slim Shady, on the hit single “Tobey.”