The next Sean doesn’t fuck with us, and we only sort of fuck with him.
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[4.33]
Crystal Leww: My favorite version of Big Sean is absolutely the self-aware goofball that made “Guap.” Absent goofiness, I am also kind of into the version of Big Sean who is kind of sad about a girl. The version of Big Sean that changes song lyrics to “my ex girl is on GLEE and shit, probably making less money than me and shit” and the one who sounds like an jealous little bitch on “IDFWU” is the worst. This is…Big Sean admitting that he took an L last night (good) but also saying that he’s gonna show his haters that he can bounce back (eh). Come on, Big Sean, no one cares enough to be an actual hater of you.
[5]
Will Adams: Well, he does what he says! The accelerated flow sounds good on Big Sean and helps shade in what the title really means: it’s less about recovering from a single hardship than it is about maintaining drive and always looking forward to the next opportunity.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Bouncing back from what I’m not sure — his last album surpassed critical and commercial expectations. “I decided that counting money never feel as good as counting blessings,” he avers. His new single has bounce and some ounce, and apparently Kanye and Jeremiah collaborated, so there’s that.
[6]
Thomas Inskeep: Big Sean has yet to make a solo single that I find interesting, and “Bounce Back” doesn’t change things. “Everything I do is righteous”? Yeah, no.
[2]
Micha Cavaseno: Big Sean’s Detroit-style overflow-flows are honestly perhaps not meant for the minimal gloom of Metro Boomin, and his attempts to hijack Drake and Future end up reading over on the former side in hollow proclamations. Sean’s a competent rapper at times, and can occasionally surprise, but here he’s certainly coming up medium.
[2]
Ryo Miyauchi: Sean’s overstuffed flow seems here to stay, and it has grown on me since “Blessings.” More than wordplay, import of a hot style or ass puns, he’s trying to make technique a pop currency. The result is still dizzying due to rough turbulence. But the bumps somehow makes it sound more appealing than a spotless performance.
[5]