• March 25, 1988
• Hip-hop artist Big Sean was born Sean Michael Leonard Anderson in Santa Monica, California. He was raised by his mother and grandmother in Detroit, Michigan.
• Sean caught his big break when he approached Kanye West, who was doing an interview in Detroit, and performed a freestyle for him. West signed him to his GOOD Music label two years later, in 2007.
• Sean had a son named Noah with his longtime girlfriend, Jhené Aiko, in 2022. They met in 2012 and started dating in 2016 when they released an album together called Twenty88.
• Before taking up with Jhené Aiko, Sean was romantically linked to actress Naya Rivera and singer Ariana Grande. Sean first met Grande at KIIS-FM's 2012 Wango Tango concert.
• Sean's debut album, Finally Famous, debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts in 2011.
• Through his charity, The Sean Anderson Foundation, Sean delivered 1,000 turkeys, along with a variety of canned vegetables, in his native Detroit just before Thanksgiving in 2014. He also gave a speech at the local River Rouge High School about the importance of giving.
• Big Sean became the first rapper to rap at the White House when he performed his duet with Ariana Grande, "Right There," during the 2014 White House Easter Egg Roll.
• Big Sean doesn't jot down his lyrics in a notebook. He told Zane Lowe on his Beats 1 show that instead everything just "flows through" him as if undergoing a "stream of consciousness" when he's in the studio.
  
  The rapper added: "I have a reference mic in the studio, meaning I have a mic in the booth, and I kind of have a karaoke-looking mic that's outside the booth that can catch all of my references. That's how I come up with most of my music."
• Big Sean received the key to the city of Detroit on April 1, 2017 in honor of his "inspiring Detroit youth" through his philanthropic work. The 29-year-old Detroit native became the youngest person to be awarded with the city's key.
• His first book, Go Higher: Five Practices for Purpose, Success, and Inner Peace, was published on January 21, 2025. It serves as an interactive guidebook aimed at helping readers maintain daily mental wellness.
• Big Sean's grandmother, Mildred V. Leonard, was one of the first Black female captains in World War II, serving in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. She was a major inspiration in his life, instilling in him the values of hard work, perseverance, and self-belief. One of his most personal songs, "One Man Can Change the World," was inspired by her impact on his life.

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