Big Sean Honors Late Grandmother in Powerful Video
Big Sean takes it back to his roots and honors a woman who changed his life in the inspirational clip for “One Man Can Change the World.”
Both the song, featuring contributions from John Legend and Sean’s mentor Kanye West, and video pay tribute to his late grandmother, Mildred V. Leonard. Leonard lived a groundbreaking life, having been one of the first black female captains during World War II and later becoming one of the first black women to serve as a police officer in Sean’s hometown of Detroit.
The black and white clip — similar to other visuals from his album Dark Sky Paradise — sees Sean and a young boy attending a funeral for a fictional representation of his grandma (named Lorraine Watson for the video). Images of police forces pepper the clip, with the young boy watching the officers on television before later encountering them on the street.
Andrew Hines and Jeff Powers co-directed the powerful visuals, though West and Legend do not appear in the clip.
This summer, Big Sean will join J. Cole, YG and Jeremih for the Forest Hills Drive Tour. The trek across North America will launch on July 12th and immediately follow the European leg of his own headlining tour. All four of those artists will also play Drake’s OVO Fest in Toronto, which will take place on August 2nd and 3rd.
Outside of music, Sean’s charity, the Sean Anderson Foundation, hosted its first annual “Uplifting Our Youth” Scholarship Fundraiser Event this week. The foundation is based in Detroit and awards college scholarships to low income students.