Big Sean is looking to have a big night at the 2011 VMAs. The Detroit MC is nominated for Best New Artist for tomorrows big show and has already made his pitch to walk away with his first moonman.
"If I win Best New Artist, I'm gonna go crazy, because I really worked hard as hell" Sean told MTV News recently.
However, according to Big Sean it took some prying from producer No ID to lay his vocals on the track that eventually led to the rapper's first major radio hit.
"When No ID gave me that beat for the song 'My Last,' I did not want to do it at all," the Finally Famous MC revealed.
Luckily for Sean, he was convinced otherwise. The song shot up the charts and peaked at #1 on the Billboard rap chart and #4 on the R&B/hip-hop chart. Ultimately, the single's success helped the Detroit rapper land the #3 album in the country, finishing behind Beyoncé's #1 LP, 4, and Adele's 21.
Sean continued to make strides in his breakout year, snagging an opening spot on Wiz Khalifa's Rolling Papers Tour, being named one of MTV Jams' 2011 Fab 5 inductees and, of course, his Best New Artist nom at the VMAs.
He has producer No ID to thank. "He was like, 'Man, do you want to be a mixtape rapper forever, or do you want to make songs people can live to and dance to?' " Sean recalled. "And then I was in the studio with Chris, played it for him, and he went crazy."
Sounds like a no brainer.
The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday from Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following the Selena Gomez-hosted pre-show at 8. See the list of nominees, revisit last year's highlights and vote for Best New Artist by visiting VMA.MTV.com.