The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Tuesday, January 31, 2017 — 5

Sal DiGioia/MICHIGAN DAILY

“I 
hope 
you 
take 
some 

inspiration from it and I hope you 
like it. We about to get this shit 
poppin’.”

Those were some of the last 

words before Big Sean premiered 
his 
fourth 
studio 
album, 
I 

Decided., 
on 
Sunday 
night 

among friends, family and some 
limited press at the Museum 
of Contemporary Art in his 
hometown of Detroit, Michigan.

Despite having been born in 

California, 
the 
twenty-eight 

year-old emcee went on to explain 
that, in reality, he “spent [his] 
entire life in Detroit,” reminding 
the small crowd of the names of 
his old streets and schools. He 
affirmed: “Anytime you see me 
on Jimmy Fallon, or Saturday 
Night Live, or anywhere,” it’s for 
the city.

“This is my fourth studio 

album: I Decided.,” he concluded. 
Then it began.

***

Apparently, 
Big 
Sean 
has 

never before been allowed to 
premiere one of his albums in 
Detroit, as record labels favor 
bigger marketplaces (think New 

York and Los Angeles), a fact 
that added extra weight to the 
live debut of his newest lyrical 
nods at the city, the first of which 
appear no longer than thirty 
seconds into his first verse.

After a tense intro featuring 

a seasoned male voice boasting 
about having worked the same job 
for 45 years, Sean raps over rich, 
moody keys, with his voice as the 
only percussion on the beggining 
of “Light (Ft. Jeremih).” He 
eventually arrives at a heartfelt 
hook (“Even if you take away my 
life / They can’t take away my 
light”) and, finally, an iconic grin 
at his family members (“Got the 
whole city on fire / This the flow 
that finna have my whole family 
retire”), many of whom happened 
to be present in the room.

The third track on the album is 

“Bounce Back,” and Sean added 
a more localized flair to the song 
by cooly announcing, “Detroit’s 
gonna bounce back!” The salute 
was warmly received, and it 
acted as a seamless transition 
into the fourth song, which is 
guaranteed to become a staple 
Detroit anthem. “No Favors,” 
which features Detroit-native 
and rap legend Eminem, turned 
the room up to another level and 
even inspired someone in the 
crowd to yell out, twice: “The 

whole city been waiting on that!”

The fifth song, “Jump Out The 

Window,” is bouncy, so Big Sean 
started walking around the room 
— shifting the crowd’s attention 
away 
from 
the 
carefully-

illuminated area where he had 
rapped 
the 
first 

few tracks aside an 
artificial tree — and 
greeted attendees, 
most of whom he 
seemed genuinely 
personally excited 
to see. He wore all 
black, including a 
blacked out Detroit 
Tigers cap and a 
discretely branded 
I Decided. hoodie. But three 
diamond 
Michigan 
mittens, 

dangling from his neck and 
decorated in different shades of 
gold, brightened up his entire 
ensemble.

Next up was “Moves,” and 

once again the room became 
a 
full-fledged 
party. 
People 

were crowding around Sean, 
obviously, but the energy was still 
more intimate and recreational 
than business-fueled. When the 
album’s singles — which were 
released beforehand and have 
already turned into monstrous 
hits — came on, the room became 
particularly excited as attendees 
rapped every single word, myself 
included.

“This is my favorite song on 

the album,” Big Sean whispered 
to me and a few other fortunate 
journalists standing beside him 
as the seventh song, “Same Time 
Pt. 1 (Ft. TWENTY88),” which 
includes lines about someone 
acting “out of line,” queued up. 
Trapped in complete awe as he 
spat, it looked as if he was still, 
even at the debut of his fourth 
album, nervous everything could 
all go wrong on any note. It never 
did, but Sean writes, performs 
and lives like it might. It’s what 
keeps him grounded, humble 
and, above all else, driven. That 
attitude is stamped all over I 
Decided.

“Halfway Off the Balcony,” 

the heartfelt third single off 
the album, came next. When it 
ended, a slow, eerie, bass-heavy 
beat came on, and Sean began 
rapping along, building around 
the motivated, conscious hook: 
“Voices in my head saying I can 
do it better / Voices in my head 
saying better do it better.” On 
first listen, the track, “Voices In 
My Head,” somewhat parallels 
“Deep (feat. Lil Wayne)” from 
Sean’s third album, Dark Sky 
Paradise.

“Stick to the player hatin’!” 

warns Sean later on the song. On 
the tracklist, there appear to be 
two parts — “Voices In My Head 
/ Stick To The Plan” — and the 
latter half has a turnt-up, trap-
like beat led by long, thick bass 
kicks. Though it acts as the most 
telling predictor of the rowdy 
surprise to come moments later, 
its debut was particularly unique, 
as it is placed right before “Sunday 
Morning Jetpack,” a thankful, 
even spiritual, reflection that 
Big Sean premiered on “Saturday 
Night Live,” and the hyper-
personal twelfth track, “Inspire 

Me,” during which Sean walked 
across the room to seek out his 
mother, then proceeded to rap 
the lyrics to her.

The 
thirteenth 
song, 

“Sacrifices 
(ft. 
Migos)” 
is 

positively 
guaranteed 
to 
be 

a 
monster 
hit. 

I 
wrote 
that 

assumption down 
immediately, 
as 

soon as I heard 
its 
explosive 

drums 
and 
the 

intensity 
in 
Big 

Sean’s voice. But 
once Offset came 
in, 
first 
teasing 

fans 
with 
his 

famous ad-lib, then delivering 
a quintessentially charismatic 
verse before, inevitably, passing 
the microphone to his bandmate 
Quavo, the radio potential for this 
deep cut multiplied immensely.

And 
finally, 
the 
closer, 

“Bigger Than Me.” It features 
a 
meditative, 
reflective, 

monologue-like verse in which 
Sean reminisces about growing 
up in Detroit, going out to see the 
world and, eventually, returning 
home as an older, wiser man. 
“That’s when I realized, shit’s 
bigger than me,” he admits, 
expressing 
his 
spirituality 

through 
the 
chillingly 
real 

confession: “God talking to me 
telepathically, like it only happen 
if you let it.” Maybe that’s what 
Big Sean Decided.

Eventually, 
the 
collective 

voices of the Chozen Choir from 
Flint, Michigan arrived, adding 
purely childish ambition to the 
track. But even this inspiring 
feature doesn’t distract from 
the album’s emotional grand 
finale: a voice recording I expect 
belongs to Sean’s mother. In 
the final moments of I Decided., 
Myra Anderson tells her son she 
loves him, and expressing her 
pride before concluding with a 
humanizing anecdote. All of the 
above things are still true, she 
says, “even when you do stupid 
things that I warned you about…”

***

In his short speech following 

the premiere, Sean called it, 
“By far my best album,” and 
then 
again 
emphasized 
his 

unswerving loyalty to Detroit, 
noting: “There’s not a lot of 
people in my position, so I’ll keep 
kicking down doors.”

He is dead serious. On first 

listen, I Decided. comes across 
as 
his 
most 
finely-tuned, 

thematically 
cohesive 
project 

yet. Its tracks bear the wisdom 
and maturity of an aging, well-
experienced man, but still prove 
unwilling to sacrifice energy and 
hunger.

As far as the whole Detroit 

thing goes — Sean has already 
done almost everything but run 
for mayor. He has been vocally 
representing it for years with 
localized slang, and even named 
his critically-acclaimed mixtape 
from 2012, Detroit, after the city.

Now, Big Sean finally premiers 

a studio album in his hometown. 
Michiganders can return the 
favor by listening to I Decided., 
out this Friday.

It’s for Detroit: Big Sean’s 
intimate listening party

SALVATORE DIGIOIA

Daily Arts Writer

At Detroit’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Writer Sal 
DiGioa witnessed the sonic surrealness of Big Sean’s latest

I Decided.

Big Sean

Release Date: 
February 3rd

Def Jam

VALENTINO

Valentino’s Spring 2017 Couture 

show marked the first collection for 
Pierpaolo Piccioli post-departure 
from his 25-year-long co-designer, 
Maria Grazia Chiuri. He turned 
to mythology for inspiration. The 
result? A collection shaped around 
Greek goddesses.

Using Greek goddesses as a 

source of inspiration is far from 
novel. Countless collections have 
called upon the Greek muses as a 
basis for their aesthetic. However, 
for a defining collection from a 
very Italian designer of a very Ital-
ian brand, this was not only a stra-
tegic choice but an effortless fit.

Recently, the landscape of haute 

couture has been marked by great 
volatility — the head designers play 
a complex game of musical chairs, 

hopping from fashion house to 
fashion house. As the designers 
fluctuate, so too do the core com-
plexions of the brands. By basing 
his collection on goddesses, Pic-
cioli was making a declaration that 
he does not intend to digress from 
the ethereal femininity that Valen-
tino has championed for the past 
several decades.

Ultimately, it is not the inspi-

ration that delineates a collection 
but rather the designer’s execu-
tion. Piccioli pledged himself to 
his celestial inspiration, naming 
every look after legitimate Greek 
mythological figures and incor-
porating details from their nar-
ratives into the individual pieces. 
The result — a collection that was 
radiant and surprisingly intellec-
tual.

Look 45: Titled Pasithea, one 

of the Graces. Daughter of Zeus 
and wife of Hypnos, Pasithea 

was the goddess of relaxation 
and meditation. This manifests 
in the dress’ elegant simplicity, 
a comparatively relaxed dress 
in conjunction with the more 
ornate looks.

Look 47: Named Pandora, 

after the famous first human. 
Infamous for her accidental 
introduction of evil into the 
world, Piccioli opted for a literal 
interpretation of his inspiration, 
Pandora herself is hand-embroi-
dered on the left side of the gar-
ment in a golden orange thread.

Look 50: Christened Arethu-

sa. Arethusa was a nymph who 
was transfigured into a flowing 
spring, surrounded by flowers. 
The piece has an elongated stripe 
which originates below the neck-
line and extends to the floor. Sur-
rounding the stripe are macramé 
flowers, much like flowers sur-
rounding a stream.

TESS TOBIN
Daily Arts Writer

STYLE REVIEW
As far as the 
whole Detroit 
thing goes, Sean 
has already done 
almost everything 
but run for mayor.

Valentino’s Piccioli returns to roots 
for first solo couture collection 

Drawing from Greco-Roman stlyes, recent collections proves radiant

On 
January 
21st, 
millions 

marched. 
They 
marched 

specifically 
against 
Donald 

Trump’s behavior, rhetoric and 
inauguration, 
and 
marched 

in solidarity around the globe 
against the treatment of women 
worldwide. The march aimed to 
be as intersectional as possible, 
marching not just to bring light 
to the struggles of “women” as a 
single category but to acknowledge 
that different women face different 
struggles. Some think this was 
more successful than others; I’ve 
been trying to listen to what others 
have to say about it.

I’ve seen a lot of people 

struggling with what they saw 
as a focus on the celebration of 
“womanhood.” Many felt that 
some of the popular signs featuring 
images, cartoons or language 
around female reproductive organs 
or primary sex characteristics — 
not to mention the pink hats — were 
alienating to the trans women who 
showed up to march. Much of the 
coverage of the marches addressed 
how centering this kind of imagery 
and rhetoric catered exclusively to 
cis women. For anyone who doesn’t 
know, the definition of cisgender 
(according to Merriam-Webster) 
is: “relating to, or being a person 
whose gender identity corresponds 
with the sex the person had or was 
identified as having at birth.”

Transgender people face issues 

that cisgender people do not. 
Cisgender people don’t have to 
worry they won’t be allowed to 
use the bathroom they feel most 
comfortable using, or have people 
argue with them about what their 
“real” name is or face insistent 
questioning of what’s under their 
clothes or worry about being 
misgendered or scroll through a 
category on Netflix and not see any 
movies that represent them and 
their experiences. These are just a 
few I know, but the list goes on and 
on — and there are plenty of lists 
and personal narratives out there 
written by transgender people who 
have faced discrimination based on 
their gender identity firsthand.

From what I could see, there 

were two conflations in both the 
rhetoric around the march and the 
criticism of it afterwards that were 
getting in the way of productive 
conversations. The first is a 
distinction which has only recently 
trickled into common knowledge, 
and that many people haven’t 
come across in an academic setting 
because we don’t teach anything 
about it until college (at least in 
my experience): the conflation of 
sex and gender. A quick, simplistic 
crash course for those who haven’t 

encountered this idea: Sex is what 
one is assigned at birth based on 
genitalia and reproductive organs, 
either male and female. Gender is 
the social construct built around 
sex: boy and girl, man and woman. 
The concept that gender is a social 
construct — that there is nothing 
inherent to “womanhood” or 
“manhood” can be flooring the 
first time one learns about it, and 
still hasn’t quite reached public 
acceptance.

The second conflation I saw 

was of the privilege of cisgender 
women and having a female body. 
I think that cisgender privilege 
is often just named in a list with 
other privileges, and not actually 
examined enough on its own. 
I think that’s led to some not 
understanding that the privilege 
ciswomen have is not actually 
related to inhabiting a female body; 
in this case, having female genitalia 

and female primary and secondary 
sex characteristics has never been 
a privileged identity. They have 
always been abused and harshly 
regulated, from the history of 
sterilization of indigenous women 
and “corrective” rape of queer 
women, to the disbelief of the 
female orgasm and the marketing 
of douching for “freshness” or 
“cleanliness,” to the inaccessibility 
and harsh restriction of birth 
control, to the ancient societal 
importance placed on virginity tied 
to hymens and the perpetuation of 
rape culture. The list goes on and 
on.

In a lot of spaces, talking about 

the pain and struggle that comes 
along with owning a uterus or 
vagina is still taboo — for example, 
former Rep. Lisa Brown (D – West 
Bloomfield) was barred from 
speaking after she used the word 
“vagina” in a discussion about 
abortion. That was in 2012. A 
few days ago, Trump reinstated 
the “global gag rule,” making 
accurate and informed family 
planning aid (specifically abortion) 
to 
other 
countries 
incredibly 

difficult. There were examples of 
internalized misogyny even at the 
women’s march; I saw one sign at 
the Ann Arbor march that read: “I 

may have one, but I’m no pussy.” I 
don’t even know where to begin 
with it.

A lot of these issues don’t occur 

to those who don’t struggle with 
them on a daily basis. When I was 
in high school, I was involved in my 
school’s “midnight runs,” Friday 
nights spent driving all over New 
York City to give food, clothes and 
toiletries to homeless people on 
the streets. We collected donations 
from 
students 
beforehand 
— 

toothpaste, deodorant, soap and 
shampoo. The one thing that 
most of the homeless women 
asked for first was tampons and 
pads, which we never had. It just 
wasn’t something people thought 
to donate — which was especially 
interesting considering it was an 
all-girls school. New York only 
stopped taxing menstrual products 
last year.

Signs at the women’s marches 

that had pictures of uteruses or 
vaginas weren’t inherently trans 
exclusive. They were in direct 
response to not only several of you-
know-who’s comments about and 
lack of respect towards women, 
most infamously, his “grab them by 
the p——y” comment.

There were signs at the march 

that were trans exclusionary — 
“the future is female,” sign, or “no 
uterus, no opinion,” — but they 
were more than that, for anything 
that reifies the conflation between 
sex and gender is dangerous and 
counterproductive. These signs 
should not be seen as celebrating 
these symbols as inherent to 
womanhood, but rather a way to 
reclaim the space and time needed 
to fix the issues faced by those 
who have them. I don’t think the 
solution would’ve been to not 
have those signs; these things 
can’t be taken out of the national 
conversation. Rather, there should 
have been more signs about the 
issues that transgender people, 
both transgender men and women, 
face. The conversation needs to be 
broadened and amplified, and the 
conversation 
around 
cisgender 

privilege more focused so as to 
eliminate the confusion.

There is nothing inherent to 

“womanhood.” The term itself 
is dubious. Sometimes it seems 
like the only thing that all women 
have in common is some level 
of oppression, no matter how 
complicated or tiered. I guess 
that’s part of the reason, beyond its 
inherent conflation, that I cringe 
a little inside whenever I see signs 
saying “the future is female.” I can’t 
help but think to myself, based on 
how “female” is treated still — God, 
I hope not.

GENDER & MEDIA COLUMN

Questions raised by signs

SOPHIA 

KAUFMAN

ALBUM REVIEW