The first album Big Sean bought with his own money
Big Sean is proud of the city he’s from, so the rapper to whom he gave his first money comes as no surprise. Although he was born in Santa Monica, California, Sean moved to Detroit, Michigan when he was just three months old, where he was raised by his mother. Ever since, he’s fully embraced being from the Motor City.
One of the biggest rappers of all time also comes from the same city. Taking to social media, Sean revealed that Eminem’s The Slim Shady LP was the first album he bought with his own money in 1999. At the time, he was just ten years old.
“Not gon hold you, Slim Shady LP was the first CD i bought wit my own money at Costco,” he wrote. “Me n Em bout 4 songs in now (DVE, No Favors, Detroit 2 cypher) but being on the Death of Slim Shady is full circle. I aint know when i bought that, that id be one of the next 1’s out da city.”
The ‘I Don’t Fuck with You’ rapper appeared on Em’s most recent album The Death of Slim Shady in July 2024, featuring on the song ‘Tobey’, which peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 29 in the UK Singles Chart. This isn’t the first time they’ve crossed paths, having also collaborated on ‘Detroit vs. Everybody’ from 2014’s Shady XV compilation, ‘No Favors’ from 2017’s I Decided and ‘Friday Night Cypher’ from 2020’s Detroit 2.
Sean named The Slim Shady LP as one of his favourite albums of all time during an interview with Complex. “I just remember picking that up and being from Detroit, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe this fool is from Detroit,’” he said. “I wanted to rap just like him. His syllable game was just incredible and he’s responsible for a lot of the style I have now. His sense of lyricism is just on point.”
He also named The Marshall Mathers LP, released in 2000, as another pick in his top 25 albums, putting both records in his top 10. “Shit was banging for the same reasons I like the The Slim Shady LP. It’s a great follow-up album,” he explained.
“Nothing really changed. Same good ass storytelling, same good ass lyricism, same shit. [On that album] he was a little more in the public. You saw him going through the stress of being a star on the The Marshall Mathers LP because he was famous while he was making it.”
Sean once revealed that Em taught him what “dedication” was after spending time around him in the studio. “Eminem is the biggest rapper in the world and he be in the studio every day,” he said on the Zach Sang Show. “Every day he can be in there. He’s dedicated to it.”
He added, “He cares about rapping like Goku care about fighting. Eminem is in that mug, in that studio, every day, dawg. We were eating Jet’s pizza in the studio watching South Park. It was the first time we worked.”