Latest Release
- 11 JAN 2024
- 15 Songs
- Honestly, Nevermind · 2022
- Her Loss · 2022
- NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES · 2018
- SAVAGE MODE II · 2020
- beerbongs & bentleys · 2017
- SAVAGE MODE II · 2020
- i am > i was · 2018
- Issa Album · 2017
- UTOPIA · 2023
- american dream · 2024
Essential Albums
- The impending arrival of 21 Savage’s SAVAGE MODE II was announced with a trailer directed by Gibson Hazard and narrated by Morgan Freeman. The takeaway, aside from the fact that Savage and collaborator Metro Boomin were emerging together from separate and presumably unrelated periods of inactivity, is that the project was much more than just two pals hanging out. With SAVAGE MODE II, the pair have effectively reached back to the era when 21 Savage wanted nothing more than to let rap fans know he was a “Real Ni**a” with “No Heart”. SAVAGE MODE II follows 2017’s Without Warning—also featuring Offset—as the third collaboration between the pair, the first being 2016’s Savage Mode. Savage and Metro would go on to become exponentially more successful in the years following, but SAVAGE MODE II songs like “Glock in My Lap”, “Brand New Draco” and “No Opp Left Behind” effectively recreate the us-against-the-world energy of the original. Elsewhere on the project, Savage is every bit the rap superstar we know in collaboration with Drake and Young Thug on “Mr. Right Now” and “Rich N***a Shit”, respectively. But whether he’s talking about “Snitches & Rats” (with Young Nudy) or opening up about a relationship gone sour on “RIP Luv”, 21 Savage sounds like he's at the top of his game while he’s back in the saddle with Metro. Or as Morgan Freeman puts it in the trailer, “When someone is in Savage Mode, they’re not to be fucked with.”
- With 21 Savage's second album, 2018’s i am > i was, the Atlanta rapper demonstrated a stylistic purview that extended beyond the catchy trap anthems he built his career on. Not that his style ever seemed limited—the brand of creeping gothic bangers he patented on his breakthrough Metro Boomin–produced mixtape, Savage Mode, felt distinctive when the project arrived in 2016. On 21’s studio debut, 2017’s Issa Album, he struck a less stylised, more autobiographical note while demonstrating his ability with crossover-ready hooks. With his follow-up, the rapper seemed to be aiming to make a more daring and auteurish statement while continuing to chart singles. It would be hard to argue that he didn’t succeed on both counts. 2018’s i am > i was turned out to be an excellent showcase for 21’s sophisticated writing and pop-minded abilities, as well as his rooting in deeper Southern rap tradition. Its lead single and opening track incorporated an inviting soul vocal sample that introduced a sleek, more cosmopolitan sound into his music. Its earwormy Q&A hook and verses juxtaposed the playful and harrowing, a potent combination that made it Savage’s biggest solo single to date. The rest of the project served to illustrate 21’s ability as an album artist, from choice of collaborators to stylistic scope. In a power move, his star-studded and stylistically diverse roster of guests—from Travis Scott to Childish Gambino to Project Pat—were uncredited. Creating a contrast with its slicker singles—see the mournful, flute-driven “can’t leave without it”—a collection of tracks on the album explore street-rap subgenres, such as the Memphis horrorcore tradition. The eerie, violent “monster” recalled early Three 6 Mafia, while the shout-along “a&t” quite literally interpolates one of their most explicit refrains. With 21’s morbid imagination, poker-faced humour and inimitable charisma on full display, i am > i was felt like something more than an artist trying on different subgenres or gathering au courant producers around him to make himself seem interesting. It announced an artist with longevity—not afraid to take chances, with curational and lyrical abilities to match the biggest names in the rap game.
- Named for the tattoo that sits between his eyes (“It’s a knife”), 21 Savage’s debut studio album glistens with sinister flows and explicit reveals. Issa Album dives deep into the trap side, documenting his come-up, the spoils, temptations, irritations and self-medication. “Dead People” and “Close My Eyes” paint grimy pictures and rank as some of 21's most viscerally affective tracks yet (“I see dead bodies when I close my eyes” goes the hook in the latter). Tempered production by Pierre Bourne, Wheezy, Southside, DJ Mustard, and Metro Boomin allow the ATL rapper the full stage, closing out with a 7-minute freestyle.
Artist Playlists
- An Atlanta rapper with a harrowing story and nonchalant charisma.
- The rap icon is touring his third solo album. Explore the full set list here.
- Diddy, The Weeknd & French Montana
- Burna Boy & 21 Savage
- Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & Diddy
More To Hear
- A toast to the evolution of 21 Savage.
- Their 2018 collaboration “a lot” is a classic.
- 21 Savage to Scarface: We outline stories of Southern hip-hop.
- The actor and rapper on linking up for the 'Spiral' soundtrack.
- The actor and rapper talk linking up for the Spiral soundtrack.
- Music from Metro Boomin, Future, and Nicki Minaj.
More To See
About 21 Savage
Whispering betrays an intimacy—a shared acknowledgement of something sacred. And 21 Savage, rap’s ASMR wordsmith, uses the technique to intimidate and taunt, to threaten and destroy. Violence was quite literally Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph’s introduction to rap: he started after his best friend was killed (and he himself sustained gunshot wounds) in a shootout on Joseph’s 21st birthday. This is music born in the streets, desensitised to tragedy because any other coping mechanism would result in unending heartbreak. His breakthrough, 2016’s Savage Mode, produced entirely by Metro Boomin, showcases the rapper’s deadpan delivery and ambivalence toward the stories he tells. With the EP, 21 emerged as one of rap’s great stylists, with his flow and Metro’s minimal beats giving the album an almost ambient feel. When 21 took his signature sardonic style to its logical extreme on Metro Boomin’s “Don’t Come Out the House”, he betrayed a playful willingness to engage with our image of him. With 2018’s I Am > I Was, though, 21 proved he was more than a single, captivating style. The album boasts a diversity of ideas, homing in on post-trap and club anthems and heightening the impact of his signature snarl, which grows in menace as it’s used less frequently. He used to shroud his apathy entirely in hushed sneers, but now, when 21 Savage lulls us with a whisper, the quiet is deafening. Between 2020 and 2022, he only reaffirmed his penchant for club-ready street raps, with his Metro Boomin and Drake joint albums (SAVAGE MODE II and Her Loss, respectively) all leaving an impression on the culture. Of course, those were only appetisers for 2024's american dream, a project that sees 21 explore his upbringing while rapping alongside a diverse cast of collaborators like Doja Cat, Travis Scott, Lil Durk and more. Imbued with the ease and subtle finesse of a mob boss, the LP proves that the most powerful voices are sometimes the quietest.
- HOMETOWN
- Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- BORN
- 22 October 1992
- GENRE
- Hip-Hop/Rap