Big Sean - “Dark Sky (Skyscrapers)” (Official Video)

“I guess it took ten years for me to be an overnight success,” Big Sean raps on “Skyscrapers,” the latest song from his new album, Dark Sky Paradise, which is out today. In some ways this album does feel like Sean’s ascent to a higher tier of rap, but really he’s been doing pretty okay for himself since he guested on a bunch of Cruel Summer singles. Ever since Dark Sky’s lead song, “IDFWU,” Sean hasn’t been standing on anyone’s shoulders, and “Skyscrapers” emphasizes that again, while also remembering the way things used to be. “What do you know about livin’ check to check/ To livin’ check to check?” Sean raps (I’m a writer so I know quite a bit actually Big Sean!) before launching into the song’s hook: “started from the basement made it to the skyscrapers.” If it wasn’t a just-add-architecture straight rip-off of “started from the bottom now we here,” I’d probably love it. Still, it’s not a bad song, so watch him rap about his long-overdue success in a red-lit elevator for the Dylan Knight and Andrew Hines-directed video.