University Union announced the official Juice Jam 2015 lineup with Big Sean as the headliner. Get pumped by brushing up on these five things you need to know about the rapper, from his love life to how he finally became famous.

Editor’s note: song contains explicit content

1. He grew up in Detroit

Though he was born in Santa Monica, California, Big Sean grew up in the West Side of Detroit, a little over six hours away from Syracuse, and said that the diversity of his childhood friends greatly influenced him. In high school, he graduated with a 3.7 GPA. Big Sean founded the Sean Anderson Foundation to give back to the community he was raised in. The Sean Anderson Foundation’s mission is simply to improve the lives of young people in Detroit and the U.S, and inspire them to follow their dreams.

The @seanandersonorg is proud to partner with @fordincommunity, @BingYouth to elevate the stories of black men. pic.twitter.com/7IX0Ja8CJ4

— Sean Anderson Org (@seanandersonorg) August 20, 2015

2. He’s deeply spiritual

A self-described spiritual person, Sean says his upbringing influenced his religion, as well as reading books such as, “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho and “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” by Deepak Chopra. This spirituality is evident in Sean’s lyrics, such as the line in the song “Getcha Some” that says, “Atheists turn Christian when I rock my True Religions.”

3. Big Sean founded a clothing company, Aura Gold

Within his brand, in fall 2013 Sean launched “Finally Famous: The Black Collection.” The line featured items such as hats, jackets and T-shirts — which all exemplified Sean’s personal style.

 

Happy Birthday

 

A photo posted by Aura Gold (@aura_gold) on Mar 25, 2015 at 8:58am PDT

 

4. Kanye West almost didn’t discover him

The summer going into Sean’s senior year of high school, one of his friends called him to tell him that West was at a local radio station. After Sean had rushed to get there, West initially denied him, but after Sean pleaded, West gave him 16 seconds, which became 10 minutes. After two years of work, West signed Big Sean to G.O.O.D. Music. Now, the two have collaborated on several songs including “One Man Can Change the World” and “Blessings” off his 2015 Dark Sky Paradise album.

5. He was engaged to Naya Rivera

Sean and Glee star Rivera met on Twitter and dated for six months before getting engaged, but they called the wedding off in April 2014 for various personal reasons. He later dated Ariana Grande, but the two split after eight months.

Published on August 31, 2015 at 10:08 pm

Contact Alex: aerdekia@syr.edu