Big Sean is a softie at heart. Though the Detroit rapper flexes his aggressive side on various sixteens in his catalog (his single “I Don’t Fuck With You” has become the new middle finger), he’s still the same scrawny kid born Sean Anderson, who isn’t shy about being a momma and grandmomma’s boy. While growing up in the hood, lil’ Sean was quickly realizing his hip-hop dreams at 12 years old, spitting family-friendly bars.
“I used to rap about not having sex and not doing drugs,” Sean told OG journalist Elliott Wilson at SXSW’s CRWN on Wednesday (March 18). “That was before I had sex and did drugs.”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=rGTEyjseMD8
Sean will put it bluntly many times over the course of the hour-long live interview: he’s trying to be a better man and “boss up” (his favorite phrase). He sets out to accomplish this by pushing out documentary-esque clips with titles like “Patience,” “Love” and the aww-inducing “Family.” He even revealed having his own life coach.
But on this sunny Wednesday in Austin, Texas, Big Sean made like Tony Robbins, becoming an impromptu life coach for the festival-goers in attendance. After being raised by women who acted as “men of the family,” Sean is already a family man-in-training, especially when he gushes about his little niece and nephews inspiring his work ethic in the booth (his niece was in the studio when Sean laid down “Deep,” he says). Still, amidst his uncensored catchphrases like “Ho, shut the fuck up,” Big Sean has gems to share, if you listen closely.
Here are seven life lessons Big Sean dished out at CRWN:
1. “When you put something out into the universe, you should never cancel it out.”
2. “Last year, Detroit was a billion dollars in debt but throughout it all, we maintained a level of support … You gotta boss up when times get too hard and figure it out.”
3. “When I say ‘Little bitch,’ it could be a guy. I’m not misogynistic. There’s dudes out here who bitchin’ more than anybody.”
4. “I don’t fuck with that [negativity]. I just stay focused and keep happy. Everything I do is for the sole purpose of being happy. Motherfuckin’ billionaires who committed suicide, movie stars been depressed. Success isn’t the term of how hard you work. There’s a misconception that society has put on us since we were babies. You gotta work really hard. There’s someone who works for an hour who makes more than we all do. There’s someone who works 20 hours a day who rides a bus.”
5. “It’s about energy. Where your happiness is, you vibrate on a whole different level in a whole different way.”
6. “I know what it’s like to be up. I know what it’s like to be down. I’m not scared of that shit.”
7. “My next goals are to keep being a better person and help spread information I learned, help making music that inspires and excites people, gets people going from “IDFWU” to “Blessings” to “Outro” to “One Man Can Change The World.” Help encourage people. We all deserve to be millionaires, billionaires, to be happy. I just want people to know you can have it. God wants us to be happy and I wanna keep getting that message out.”