Sean Anderson aka Big Sean is one example that a bit of luck and perseverance are the keys to success. Born on March 25, 1988, Sean hailed from Detroit and had been rapping since his youth. Long story short, he had a weekly show at a local hip-hop station called WHTD when he was in high school. He would also take part in rap battle contests held by the station. 

His change of fate came in 2005. Sean at that time was doing a telemarketing job which paid poorly when he heard from a friend that Kanye West was at the 102.7 FM station. He dashed to the place in hope to meet the famous rapper and used his special relationship with the station's staff to allow himself in. 

He managed to face Kanye but the rapper denied him at first. Sean's friends started to push him to show his skill to Kanye and Sean eventually tapped Kanye on the shoulder. "[I] was like, 'I'm an aspiring MC. I do this show every Friday. Can I rap for you?' He was like, 'No. I gotta go.' I'm like, 'Man, please - you're my hero. Let me rap for you? Just let me spit for you.' " 

Kanye gave him the shot and Sean did his best, looking at the floor most of the time in fear to mess it up. "As we get to the entrance of the radio station ...we stopped in the middle of the doorway. He starts looking at me and bobbing his head," Sean recalled. From then on, it was like a chapter in a movie. 

Sean gave Kanye demo tapes and finally got signed to GOOD music label two years later. "I wasn't signing acts at that time. But I was so inspired by what he did. His voice was very compelling. His lyrics were very clever and the melodies and the way he was putting it together and his story. So it's not that easy, but it's a lot of people who rap who aren't as dope," Kanye said. 

Sean's first official mixtape called "Finally Famous: The Mixtape" was released in September 2007. Due to the success of the first one, in the next three years he released two more mixtapes that grew in terms of collaborators. His third one, out in 2010, featured Bun B, Mike Posner, Drake and Tyga among others. He

then planned another one to give a prelude to his first studio album, "Finally Famous". 

2011–12: Finally Famous and mainstream success

In an interview on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio, Sean discussed the role Kanye West and No I.D. have had in the development of his first studio album's sonic direction as well as the challenges of being inside the studio with West. The album's lead single, "My Last", features vocals fromChris Brown and was produced by No I.D. According to Amazon.com, Big Sean's Finally Famous was delayed by a week, with a tentative release date set for June 28. Big Sean has revealed the cover art for his G.O.O.D. Music debut and explained that the one-week pushback was to be blamed on sample and feature clearance issues. The official tracklist was revealed on June 7.

 Finally Famous, Sean's debut studio album, was released June 28, 2011, and spawned three hit singles; "My Last", "Marvin & Chardonnay" and "Dance (A$$)". The album featured guest appearances from Lupe Fiasco, John Legend, Pharrell, Kanye West, Roscoe Dash, Wiz Khalifa, Chiddy Bang, Rick Ross, Pusha T and included production from No I.D., The Legendary Traxster, Andrew "Pop" Wansel, Xaphoon Jones and The Neptunes. When the songs "O.T.T.R." and "Flowers" were leaked in July 2011, speculation began of a new mixtape. Sean confirmed in an interview June 28, 2011 that a collaborative mixtape between him and "two other guys in hip-hop that are just killing it right now" will be released "in a couple of weeks". Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y, were the suspected featured rappers on the mixtape. However, Wiz Khalifa later confirmed that there would be no mixtape, claiming that the songs were created, "just for fun".

In September 2011, Big Sean confirmed in an interview with the Daily Tribune that he'll be working on his sophomore album during the I Am Finally Famous Tour and plans to release the album sometime in 2012. On October 19, 2011, Kanye West announced on his Twitter plans for a Spring 2012 GOOD Music album release. On April 6, 2012, "Mercy", the lead single from the GOOD Music compilation album, Cruel Summer, was released. The song, produced by newly signed in-house producer Lifted, features Big Sean along with Kanye West, Pusha T and southern rapper 2 Chainz. Big Sean then announced his fourth mixtape would be titled "Detroit" and would serve as a lead-in to his second studio album. He then began promoting the mixtape, releasing short versions of the songs on his YouTube page.

2012–present: Hall of Fame

Big Sean pushed back the release date of his second studio album Hall of Fame, and was eventually released on for August 27, 2013. The album has skits to give it a "classic feel", and includes features from multiple artists, including Lil Wayne, Jhené Aiko, Nas, Kid Cudi, Nicki Minaj, Juicy J, Young Jeezy and Miguel. The album's production was primarily handled by No I.D., and Key Wane along with additional production from Hit-Boy, Da Internz, Mike Dean, Travi$ Scott, Xaphoon Jones and Young Chop among others. Big Sean also stated in an interview that he was in the studio with fellow Detroit native Eminem. Sean went on to say they made a "Detroit classic" but he is unsure if it will be on Hall of Fame because of "timing issues".Hall of Fame had spawned five singles, "Guap", "Switch Up" featuring Common, "Beware" featuring Jhené Aiko and Lil Wayne, "Fire", and "Ashley" featuring Miguel.

A month prior to the album's release, Big Sean told Complex that he had already begun work on his third album due to the inspiration from his new relationship

Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big (2010)

Finally Famous (2011)

Cruel Summer (with GOOD Music) (2012)

Detroit (2012)

Hall of Fame (2013)