Feb 6, 2015

Or is Big Sean totally jacking Travi$' style?

Ok, so for those who don't know Big Sean that well, these are the types of songs he's known for:



Notice the overall feel-good vibes. Sean was just a plain fun party rapper with admittedly underwhelming albums and occasional dope verses.

So I first started thinking about this when I saw the Hall of Fame cover art


Notice how closely Big Sean's pose resembles his GOOD counterpart's signature "La Flame" pose.


Now, that's not enough to b---- about on its own. Sure, its pretty much the same pose and the whole art style seems ripped out of Travi$' rejected Owl Pharaoh cover arts, but you could just pin that down as influence, not style-jacking.

Last year, it became clear that Big Sean was hanging out with Travi$ more because they were doing songs together, with Big Sean featured on Travi$' "Don't Play" and Travi$ co-producing Big Sean's "1st Quarter". So of course there's gonna be more intermingling of their sounds. But the drastic change from "Guap" to "1st Quarter" is very obvious.

Now, let me back up and show you some Travi$ Scott songs that REALLY showcase his dark, ambient, atmospheric vibe that he nails so well:



Now, compare those to Big Sean's newer tracks such as



They share common traits: Dark, distorted synths, deep growling bass, and hard hitting drums, with occasional random noises (eagle shrieks or thunder rumbling) to add to the menacing ambiance.

In a recent interview with Complex, Big Sean said that he's working with Key Wane to try to find a sound. Key Wane, for those of you who don't know, is essentially Travi$-lite, but more accessible and mainstream-sounding and without the same degree of tone that Travi$' songs have.

More examples: Travi$ most popular song pre-Days Before Rodeo would probably have been Quintana. It was the quintessential b-----r that showcased who and what Travi$ Scott was. At one point, the song begins to break down and over the cries of animals and the hellish beat you can hear A$AP Bari tell Travis "La Flame, don't play no games". Guess what one of the tracks on Big Sean's upcoming Dark Sky Paradise will be called? Play No Games.

Also, one of Travi$' main ad-libs is "Straight up!". And that is something that is unique to him. Only Travi$ Scott said that in the background between verses. But, in songs such as Blessings, you can hear Big Sean going "straight up, straight up".

And I suppose that's the whole point of this post. Big Sean finally evolved from an underwhelming radio rapper to a solid artist, but didn't do it his own way. The stealing of Travi$' "Straight Up" ad-lib perfectly encapsulates this, he's not doing anything bad, he's doing "If Big Sean was Travi$ Scott" instead of just doing Big Sean. There's nothing wrong with the music itself, and in fact I feel like this last year had been Big Sean's best, and his prime is yet to come. It just bothers me, somewhere in the back of my mind when I listen to his new s---, that he's basically turned himself into a more gentrified bastardization of Travi$ Scott.

 

Feb 6, 2015

Thats alot of writing... heres a like

 

Feb 6, 2015

Thanks

Would appreciate it if people took the time to actually read this, I spent the last half hour or so typing it up lol

 

Feb 6, 2015

Just gonna tag some poeple who I think would be interested in reading this
@Narsh @Sign Language @ChanceTheRapper @BigCountry @Grimace @Jet @helpmefam @LebronFlockaJames

 

Feb 6, 2015

I'm a travis fan but he also borrows from other people's sounds. Idk I think they're both dope in their own ways. Don't think sean or la flame write similar at all

 

Feb 6, 2015

Yeah writing is completely different lol Big Sean actually has bars now but Travis at best will have like a clever line or two

But I mean with Travi$, he sometimes has "Kanye" moments like the beginning of h--- Of A Night, and on Days Before Rodeo he definitely borrowed from the styles of the featured artists, but overall he's pretty unique. Him and 1da Gurl are the only people doing that menacing "Uptown" style s---, and with the exception of a few songs (Upper Echelon, Bacc) his style is wholly unique. And that's Travi$ main selling point: his style. He doesn't really have bars, and at this point in his career he isn't one of those guys who had cool concepts, so it comes down to his beats and style. And Big Sean is just taking that style and repurposing it. That kinda irks me because as I've said that's Travi$' whole appeal. That's like taking away Eminem's old flow, or Earl Sweatshirt's wordplay. Sure, Travi$ is still good without the dark tone (see OG Owl Pharaoh) but it's such a core part of him that it seems cheap to just steal it from him like that, especially since Sean is probably gonna be the one who ends up getting more exposure and he'll be credited for introducing this dark menacing style to the masses instead of Travi$

 

Feb 6, 2015

Yeah I already said my response on how he does seem to borrow from his features on DBR, but I just want to throw something out here that kind of explains my reasoning :

Days Before Rodeo was arguably a Top 5 project of 2014. It was a compilation of tracks that Travi$ thought weren't unique enough to be on the album. So, at 22 years old, this kid has managed to influence two top 40 rappers, one of which is often hailed as the truest artist in all of rap, with a mixtape full of throwaways. The fact that his throwaways sound a little too New ATL shouldn't be used to discredit this man at all.

 

Feb 6, 2015

Either way I'm gonna be going wild March 14th for his and thuggers show. DBR was my favorite project of 2014. And that song Travis and Kanye are featured on for Sean's new album sounds insane from the snippet

 

Feb 6, 2015

March 23 for me boi

Gonna have to sneak out the crib

But it'll be worth it to be high out of my mind at my favorite artist's concert in our hometown

 

Feb 6, 2015

Dang that's one day before me (hehe, a day before rodeo) Tell me how it is

And yeah I was just kinda throwing that part out there for everyone, not you, because when I see discussions on Travis I always see a few naysayers ragging on the fact that he sounded ATL on DBR

And in response to your "can't put my finger on it" comment, I think it's his hellish ambient beats combined a variety of flows and a s--- ton of charisma. He's like if Kanye took drugs and didn't give a s--- about technical lyricism.

 

Feb 6, 2015

That show will be wild


@BigCountry gonna be awesome. My friend goes to school out there, WWU.

 

Feb 6, 2015

I feel like they both bite certain aspects of other rappers. Travis gets influences from Kanye and Cudi and vice versa. Kanye gets influenced by Travis. They have really similar sounds with the synths. Seems like that is becoming the GOOD sound. Big Sean, Travis and Kanye all influence and take certain aspects from each other

 

Feb 6, 2015

s--- I mean if he is, he is, oh well. Lots of rappers bite others styles.

 

Feb 6, 2015

Doesn't make it right tho

 

Feb 6, 2015

Well I mean I didn't say it was right.

 

Feb 6, 2015

Misunderstood your post, then. My bad homie

 

Feb 6, 2015

I feel like Big Sean bites Drake more than anyone else

 

Feb 6, 2015

Pre-2014 I'd totally agree. But he's totally riding Travi$' coattails nowadays