It’s one thing to have a good run in hip hop, which moves faster than arguably any other genre of music. It’s an entirely different circumstance, however, to take your initial success and be able to move and adapt with the sound of the times. The latter is the case for Big Sean, who linked up with one of the most in-demand producers as of late, Hit-Boy, for What You Expect, a six-song EP that shows you just how versatile the Detroit rapper can be.
The album’s title demonstrates the confidence that Sean carries over the course of the project. To his credit, he’s proven himself time and time again through his decade-long discography, but the notion that he needed to do it once more on these records fuels his verses. Hit-Boy knows what he does best, and provides contemporary beats that just about any rapper that is currently active could flow to. Sean utilizes as much wordplay as he can, a tactic of the era when free mixtapes on rap blogs were at their height, and lyricism over other rapper’s singles were a measurement of skill.
While the first half of the EP will get Big Sean fans excited, the second half is where things get truly interesting. “Loyal To A Fault” is a slower jam that features Bryson Tiller and Lil Durk, but the bravado is ever-present on the microphone. The track could be one of the biggest singles of the year if it were released just a few years earlier. “Offense” and “What A Life” lean into the current wave of Midwest hip hop, with hyperactive beats and a feature from upcoming Detroit standouts 42 Dugg and Babyface Ray. What shouldn’t work on paper ultimately does, however, with Big Sean going toe-to-toe lyrically with anyone he needs to.
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