The Incredible Story of 21 Savage

with over 35 million monthly listeners on spotify alone a laundry list of chart-topping albums and singles and 13 million followers on instagram 21 savage is one of the most popular rappers in the world but he couldn't be further from a boring mainstream artist who only sells records by following trends in reality 21 savage is one of those rare artists who in addition to being extremely popular consistently pushes music forward with new sounds styles from the strange dark horror inspired projects of his early career to his continued popularity to this day as one of the biggest rappers out of atlanta 21 savage has developed a style of rapping and curated a style of production completely unique to him and i also want to talk about his unique position as an artist who's critically acclaimed and beloved by fans without having what i would call a classic catalog of albums something that in the past could be considered a weakness but today may not mean anything at all in the music industry that's shifting away from big album rollouts and more towards a consistent drip of personality clips and songs as the modern day metrics of popularity and quality so the question is can 21 savage stand next to the other rappers of his generation as one of the most iconic around today and how did he find and build his unique style of rapping that's often described as a villainous monotone drawl and where does he come from and how did his dark upbringing influence the artist he is today this is the story of 21 savage this video is brought to you by nebula classes a brand new feature on nebula and the only place where you can watch my brand new class on how to take your animation to the next level where i share all of my best techniques and technical details on how i edit volksguide's videos to be the best quality i can possibly do more on that later 21 savage whose real name is shaya bin abraham joseph grew up in atlanta georgia a city that i think most people would agree is the modern capital of hip-hop according to people who know more about the atlanta area than i do his hometown of decatur isn't the worst place in that area but it's not the greatest either if you haven't been to atlanta before like i also haven't it looks a lot different than most cities i'm used to tall buildings all kind of packed together on long narrow blocks atlanta is a lot more like a maze with long wide boulevards that cross off into maze-like cul-de-sac streets shrouded in darkness from the tall trees that hang over the streets watching videos of people driving around decatur it actually started to make sense to me where 21's early persona came from back when he was modeling himself after a horror movie villain in his early days it's kind of a shadowy dark environment and doesn't feel quite natural compared to what i'm used to 21's troubles began in seventh grade when he was permanently banned from every school in dekalb county for gun possession after a few years in alternative school and sometime in juvenile prison he ended up dropping out of high school after the 9th grade he later said that he had good grades in school but it was too difficult to find accommodations from the school system because of his criminal record after leaving the school system 21 ended up in a gang he was selling drugs full time and by the time he reached 19 or 20 years old he'd been arrested seeing his right-hand man larry shot to death and on his 21st birthday he was shot six times and his best friend johnny was killed by rival gang members on the same night and while i'm sure that 21 savage was traumatized by these events and i'm sure it did change his outlook on life it also gave him the fuel he needed to begin expressing himself in a way that would change his future forever after recovering from the shooting that almost killed him in 2013 his friend johnny's uncle gave him some money for studio time and just a year later he dropped his debut single picky a lot of 21 savage's early music is heavily inspired by the chicago drill sound of the 2010s less like young thug in atlanta and more like chief keef from chicago and his first two mixtapes slaughter tape and slaughter king do a great job establishing his character and vision but they aren't really that listenable anymore these days [Music] i'm sure there are really dedicated fans that still listen to these mixtapes to this day but even though metro boomin and zetovin have credits on these projects a lot of the beats just feel flat and ineffective it was promising at the time that 21 clearly had a vision for the artist he wanted to be but it would be a long time before that came true if that makes sense one of the moments that sticks out to me is on slaughter tapes seeing double where 21 just kind of chants seeing double over and over on top of this muddy poorly mixed beat for like a minute straight to no great effect [Music] even though the mixtapes that 21 put out aren't the best by today's standards it only took two projects before there were magazines crowning him the underground king of atlanta because of his amazing sense of style and unique approach to storytelling in rap he was really personifying this character the knife tattoo on his forehead the evil grin the red and black look of all of his album art and photos he really had a mastery of the style he was going for and while maybe his earliest work hasn't aged well 21 savage's breakout project the one that gave him national attention was savage mode released in the summer of 2016 as a collab album with metro boomin and this project was immediately recognized for the uniqueness of both the production and the vocals i would almost call savage mode quiet trap at the time critics didn't really give it the best reviews but looking back six years later a lot of people now consider it one of the best trap projects from the late 2010s in a big moment of progress for the development of the trap sound because of how different it was with so many people describing savage mo's sound design as ambient and brooding and eerie while describing 21's lyrics as merciless and bloody throughout the project 21 savage uses these quiet whispering vocals that are complemented perfectly by metro boomin's production that was far more atmospheric than anything else he had done before the beats are quiet and dark and they matched 21's ominous drawl amazingly well more than anything 21's rapping at this time had character he was creating this persona of a villain with no heart no conscience while also referencing the tragic events from his life that made him that way but not everyone loved this unique sound that 21 and metro booming had created a lot of people considered 21's voice boring and too quiet and they didn't see how his career would keep growing if he couldn't come up with a more energetic and traditional delivery sooner rather than later but even though the project seemed to have a relatively limited mass appeal with its unorthodox minimal sound and dark nihilistic themes it still made a huge impression on the music community with songs like nohart and x having hundreds of millions of streams in fact even though it was far from a polished commercial production savage mode is probably one of the most iconic projects from 2016. everything from the knife on the album cover to 21 savage's strained threatening raps maybe it wasn't a masterpiece but it established him as one of the more interesting characters coming out of atlanta a character with a unique presentation and a strong vision that was different from anything we had heard before songs like savage mode and no advance sound like nothing else that was around at the time and they still hold up today the visuals are drenched in red the recurring themes of violence set against the backdrop of cold quiet trap beats this was a grim serious focused project it was a statement 21 savage wasn't just another rapper that much was clear following the unexpected sound and success of savage mode 1 an independently released album 21's next project was at the same time far more successful and far less interesting than the one before it but while savage mode peaked at number 26 on the charts issa album debuted at number 2 and spawned the biggest hit of 21's career to that point the infamous bank account and i think this is around the time that 21 savage had the most pressure on him in 2016 he was one of the hottest rising rappers in the industry he was on the double xl cover that year and everything but this was also a time when the trap genre was experiencing unprecedented commercial push and growth from labels and social media every single year there were dozens of rappers blowing up with tons of label money behind them but there was nothing stopping them from just falling off like they were never there in the first place and to be honest there was a period of time when 21 was solidly at risk for being one of those rappers with a short career if you go back and look at reddit comments from around this time there were a lot of people who didn't like issa album they didn't like 21 sound in general not to mention he wasn't particularly popular with critics either but like i said bank account was a huge success and it gave 21 savage his first mainstream rap hit this song was everywhere a billion streams on spotify half a billion on youtube it's still the most streamed solo song of his entire career and it's one of the most catchy songs from that era in general with a simple guitar-based beat and a catchy memorable flow throughout one of the more interesting things about bank account is actually that 21 savage co-produced the song himself is one of the only two times he's ever been credited for producing a song and even though there are some good tracks on issa album like numb famous and dead people the album overall has a much more generic style of production than savage mode and the mixtapes that came before it even though it was produced mostly by metro boomin and other reputable producers from atlanta like pierre bourne wheezy and dj mustard the sound of isa album was let down by an almost generic sounding selection of beats and 21 savage's rapping wasn't bad but it wasn't really good either and i can see that if 21 didn't release a good follow-up to this project this could have been the start of his fall off after the darkness and originality of savage mode he almost promised for his next project to be just as interesting if not more so and issa album definitely wasn't you don't hear this album being talked about online much anymore at all and even though it was a commercial success its cultural and musical impact was far surpassed by the project that came immediately after it the most dark exhilarating album from 21 yet that i would say is still one of his defining projects to this day without warning with metro boomin an offset without warning is an absolutely haunting record it's exhilarating it's threatening it's dark and to be fair metro boomin deserves most of the credit for the brilliant sound you hear throughout this record this is one of the most consistently well-produced albums i've ever heard in terms of its sound this is a defining album for 2010's trap music words like generic and shallow they don't apply here without warning is full of aggressive snarling beats with big haunting soundscapes songs like still serving rap saved me ghostface killers this is the peak of 21 savage as a rap villain and offset did a really good job too personally it's my favorite album in 21's discography and it's by far one of the most replayable trap albums i've heard following the critical and commercial success of without warning just two years into his career 21 savage had suddenly achieved the two pillars of rap super stardom critical acclaim and major commercial success these are the two things you need for a long career and he had suddenly achieved both he was coming with this fresh sound this dark shadowy music with threatening production and an even more ominous delivery that characterized him as one of the most dangerous imposing figures in all of hip-hop at the same time he had some mainstream hits like bank account and he was quickly becoming a major figure in the trap scene a sub-genre that was all but ubiquitous in the late 2010s in fact his biggest hit yet and first number one single came as a feature on post malone's rockstar which ended up being the second song to ever pass two billion streams on spotify and earned both of them two grammy nominations more than anything the success of rockstar proved that 21 savage was so talented not only could he make deep cut albums full of boundary-pushing sounds but he was an incredibly useful artist to feature on a chart-topping generation defining song too rockstar was so successful that it essentially personifies the trap pop era and will be remembered as one of the most successful tracks in the late 2010s and it came only two years into 21 savage's career what's even more interesting about 21 savage's popularity back in 2017 and early 2018 as he was rising to superstardom it isn't just the fact that he had come so far in a short time but he was also managing his career with the strategic mindset that very few other artists have let alone at the level of fame that he had reached so quickly you see 21 savage owns his master recordings it's kind of hard to explain how important that is there are very very few artists who reach a high level of success and own their own master recordings the music industry is set up so artists who own their own masters aren't supposed to succeed most artists below a certain level of fame who own their own masters will struggle to finance marketing recording touring but 21 savage owns his own recordings most artists make their money off touring in public appearances because their label who funds their recording and touring and everything owns the rights to their music and as a result they see very very little money from radio streaming and sales it's a well-documented issue that leaves many famous artists with very little freedom on how their music is used or even what type of music they're allowed to make and the fact that 21 savage has become so famous while owning his own master recordings is a rare accomplishment in today's industry and it shows that he's a far more strategic businessman and manager and has a stronger understanding of money and finance than most other artists around him and furthermore getting to the level of popularity he's at without a label backing you isn't just hard the music industry is designed to not let it happen funding for marketing rollouts music videos recording and touring it's all extremely expensive and most of the time independent artists can only get to a certain level of popularity because they don't have a label helping them organize and build their career this is also how labels make money it's in their best interest to keep people in contracts they wouldn't have a business without it so the fact that 21 savage owns his master recordings means that he gets to make more money off his streaming than he does touring he isn't stuck doing concerts as his main source of income like so many other artists are these days and the way he achieved this was by staying independent until after he put out his first album savage mode in his mind if he waited until he already had a successful project out he could prove to labels that he could make a successful album which would give him a lot more bargaining power with the label and he could negotiate a better deal for himself 21 savage's next project following the success of without warning was i am greater than i was released at the end of 2018 featuring a long list of artists including post malone travis scott j cole childish gambino little baby ghana and many more i am greater than i was ended up being 21's first number one record with a long list of features and a new and improved sound from 21 himself on this album the shadowy sinister persona of his past projects is more or less replaced by a charismatic outgoing laid-back delivery but still looking back you don't really hear much about this album anymore there aren't many songs or moments that have stuck with people as much as some other trap albums i could think of honestly i don't know why this album easily clears 90 of the other atlanta trap albums from that year it can be sentimental it can be funny it can be dark and violent the features are all amazing and we can see that 21 finally perfected his apathetic rap about horrible things and turn it into a catchy song formula overall i am greater than i was feels like a very mature complete project much more so than savage mode or issa album which both pale in comparison to the storytelling and presentation on here but still you don't hear many people talking about this record anymore and i think the reason is that it didn't have enough of its own voice yeah 21 savage has his evil villain character that he raps as in a way that's funny and real at the same time but back in 2018 there were new high budget trap albums coming out every single month i don't think it stood far enough apart to be remembered as one of the greats at the same time though it's a very smooth album has great production an introverted demeanor from 21 in a laid-back minimal presentation it was his best album yet it was a huge step forward for him fleshing out his persona and becoming much more of a person and an artist than simply a knife tattoo and an evil grin there was lots of growth here and he was rewarded for it too i am greater than i was debuted at number one on the billboard charts nine of its songs charted on the hot 100. the album was certified platinum within a year in all it was a huge step forward in every way maybe not the peak of 21's career but a big step forward just a month after the release of i am greater than i was and two days after the video for a lot that would go on to rack up half a billion views on youtube and win 21 and j cole their first grammy awards 21 savage was arrested by the u.s immigration and customs enforcement agency it turned out that 21 savage wasn't an american citizen he was born in london and moved to the u.s when he was seven people were shocked when they found out that 21 savage wasn't a u.s citizen there were memes of oh yeah 21's vocabulary is too big for him to be american and stuff like that but in reality it was shocking one of the biggest superstar artists of the biggest american genre in the world is secretly british it doesn't sound real it felt like something out of a movie like it could possibly be a mistake even though the proof was right there but as it turned out 21 savage really wasn't an american citizen everything i said about him growing up in atlanta earlier in the video it's true but it's also not 21 savage was born in 1992 in a village in london both of his parents are british nationals with caribbean origins meaning that 21 savage's ethnic roots come from dominica on his mom's side and saint vincent and the grenadines on his father's side and while his birthplace isn't one of the best places in london he wasn't exposed to the events that would mould him into a mysterious shadowy evil villain rap star until he left the uk it wasn't until seven years old that his parents separated and he and his mom moved to the united states and settled in atlanta georgia it turns out that 21 did have visas to be in the u.s legally as a child but only for a short period of time around the ages of 7 and 12. he had been living in the u.s full-time for over 20 years in a statement his lawyer wrote that 21 was left without legal status through no fault of his own as a child and he had been stuck in the u.s for most of his life he also wrote that 21 had never attempted to hide his citizenship from authorities and for the past few years he had been in the process of getting approved for a visa so he could continue to stay in the u.s legally at this point it was entirely unclear what would happen to 21 savage there were accusations that ice had only arrested him because he spoke out against them publicly a few days earlier in an alternate version of a lot performed on the tonight show he rapped been through some things but i can't imagine my kids stuck at the border and flint still need water people was innocent couldn't get lawyers in the words of the new yorker magazine against this backdrop the detention appeared especially vindictive part of a long history of the authorities using hip-hop lyrics to indict profile or otherwise harass artists just a few days into 21 savage's detention and looming deportation jay-z stepped in and hired more lawyers to help 21 get out of jail he called 21 savage's detention a travesty and wrote that as a father of three 21 must be reunited with his children immediately just one week later he was released from jail on bond in the interviews that followed 21's release from federal custody he explained that he believed he was targeted by the feds because of his high profile as an artist so he could be used as an example to scare other immigrants he said it's not like i was 30 woke up and moved here i didn't know anything about visas i just knew we were moving and like i mentioned earlier as an adult he was attempting to get a legitimate residency as well in the three years since 21 was arrested in early 2019 as his career has progressed onward there have been no real updates on when his immigration case will be taken to court other than he is on a very long waiting list to have his case heard at all one of the most interesting things about 21's arrest was the public response after the initial shock wore off that he was not in fact american people seemed to almost accept him more than before even though he had kept his nationality a secret it was like because his music was so good because he had become such an icon for hip-hop it didn't matter where he was from atlanta was clearly his home more than anywhere else 21's latest album came out almost two years ago savage mode 2 with metro boomin was his second number one album in a row and it gained over 200 million streams in its first week i wouldn't necessarily call it a brilliant record or a modern classic more than anything it's just a really amazing showcase of how much 21 and metro boomin have improved over the last five or six years you can specifically look at 21 savage's double xl freestyle from 2016 and then compare it to this record and the difference the progression is incredible listening to his early rapping it's kind of hard to guess that he would end up being one of the most beloved rappers of his time back then it seemed just as likely that he would fade away after a year or two as anyone who gets a double xl freshman placement and never capitalizes on it most people just release a few mixtapes and kind of end up going nowhere but by the time savage mode 2 dropped in 2020 he had improved to a point where you can barely recognize him as the same shy awkward rapper from 6 years ago savage mode 2 wasn't universally acclaimed by critics a lot of people wrote that it didn't have the same magic and rawness of the first one or that either 21 or metro carried the project and the other one didn't put enough effort in i wouldn't say mixed reviews but overall most people probably gave it a 6 or 7 out of 10. not bad or average but not great either but i personally feel like savage mode 2 was a very ambitious album you can feel that they wanted it to be more cinematic bigger sounding have a better presentation than anything they had made together before the big omnipotent narration from morgan freeman throughout the record the orchestral trap production it all comes together to create an aesthetic of mysticism or film-like storytelling yeah the album isn't nearly as intense dark minimal or morbid as the first savage mode but what it loses in darkness it makes up for by being completely over the top with a bright sound that feels catchy and edgy at the same time plus the visual style of this album was incredible gold red and black all over the place i absolutely love how it's presented but my very favorite part of savage mode 2 is actually the chopped and screwed remix album that they dropped three weeks after the main record a lot of gen z listeners might not know what chopped and screwed even is but it's basically the sound that slowed in reverb eventually gentrified and did a poor version of chopped and screwed originated in houston texas in the early 90s by dj screw chopped and screwed songs are slowed to around 60 or 70 beats per minute and chopped up with record scratching skipping beats and manipulation of the original flow of the song's content and chopped and screwed is heavily associated with the culture around lean which its creator sadly died of an overdose on trapped screwed music made a major impact on the sound of southern hip-hop as a whole and it even spread around the country with artists like asap rocky taking influence from dj screws sound in the early 2010s and this chopped and screwed version of savage mode 2 probably isn't for everyone it can be very repetitive and slow but that's because that's how this type of music sounds personally i love it and i've listened to it almost as much as i have the original it feels darker more debaucherous and colorful and vibrant and it's a really nice touch for the more hardcore fans for there to be an alternative version of the album to listen to and appreciate like i said earlier i think it's really great that fans have an alternative album a whole other album full-length version of this record of really interesting you know laid-back remixes i think it'd be great if there were more albums made with chopped and screwed versions in mind and even though it's only four songs long i think we should also talk about 21's horror core spiral ep that tied in with the saw spin-off film spiral the spiral ep features one self-titled single that has a very high production expensive music video with 21 suspended upside down rapping in a straight jacket and hanging out in the shadowy corner of a meat cooler full of pigs there's even a song with gunna and young thug which isn't particularly memorable but the title track itself is a fun song because it almost feels like the perfect culmination of all the creepy scary motifs that 21 has been playing with for years in a really polished way it's almost like the spiritual successor to the slaughter tape and the slaughter king mixtapes that being said you could probably skip this project it's a movie tie-in it's not that interesting it feels more poppy than anything else at this point in time 21 savage has released five full-length projects since 20. he's won grammys had number one hits and number one albums he's been certified platinum multiple times over and is often considered one of the most iconic artists to come out of atlanta in the past 10 years and personally there are some of 21's albums that i consider some of my favorites from the 2010s or the trap genre as a whole but i wouldn't say that he has a single project that's been critically acclaimed i personally love without warning it's one of my favorite trap albums ever and i also think savage mode 2 is just as good but i polled my audience and i asked if 21 savage has a classic project yes or no not yet over 60 percent of people out of 3 000 answered that no he doesn't have a classic project yet and i think that 60 number pretty much sums it up even though 21 savage is an artist that a lot of people love and see as an amazing rapper with strong vision and good lyrics he hasn't yet made an album that's still being talked about years later in the mainstream like i said before this isn't my own opinion i think 21 has a really strong discography but i do see that it doesn't get talked about often it's not that his albums aren't good enough i think it's just that they aren't perceived as being good enough so it makes sense to me that 60 of my audience would say yeah he doesn't really have a classic project yet but 21 as an artist as a rapper still gets lots of attention on social media and is often ranked as one of the best artists around today go on twitter look up 21 savage you have tons of people talking about how he has one of the most underrated discographies or that his discography is really good low key if anything i think his discography is only underrated because he used to be seen as a generic mumble rapper years ago when he first came out and secondly i think a big part of it may be that in addition to making albums he's also known as one of the most prolific feature artists in the whole music industry 21 savage's features on songs like knife talk and jimmy cooks with drake cash in cash out with pharrell and tyler who wants smoke with naruto wick rockstar with post malone nc17 from astroworld the songs from not all heroes wear capes his features with meek mill pop smoke gunner uzi young childish gambino name any artist 21 savage has an amazing feature on one of their songs his reach as a rapper extends far beyond his own discography and there are tons of people who consider themselves fans of 21 savage without ever listening to his albums because he has so many iconic features and collaborative tracks i think it is to the point where yeah maybe he doesn't have a really high rated album yet but the amount of people who rate him highly means that it doesn't really matter anyway can you be a feature artist and still be one of the greatest artists of your generation if people love you and idolize your raps and your persona does it really matter if your albums are critically acclaimed 21 may get a lot of his clout and success from features but it's not a limiting factor for him he has a fully fleshed out character a style and content to his music he's not just a rapper to hop on any old beat he's more than just a feature artist he's more than someone who can't carry a song on his own he's more than someone who you only want to hear for short snippets on other people's songs 21 savage is a consistently great rapper who makes every song he's on a whole lot better including his own catalogue of solo work so is 21 savage limited to just being a feature artist because he is a very popular and prolific feature artist no he's one of the best artists you can get on a feature but he's also so much more than that and even if he never made an album again in my opinion he would go down as having one of the greatest discographies of his generation for all the albums he's made over the last six years 21 savage is an artist who came from nothing he's been shot six times seeing his brother and his best friends die to gun violence he dropped out of high school in the ninth grade and he took all of those traumatic experiences and channeled it into one of the most intelligent interesting music careers of our time if you look at his interviews from five years ago six years ago people would say why does he talk so slowly why is he so quiet but it turned out that he just needed time to grow and turn into the artist he is today for someone who has been through so much negativity in their life to channel it into a music career like this that's not the road most people in his situation would go down and you know he isn't just any other rapper any other artist listen to his stories everything he went through the way the system failed him and he still had the spirit to give back thousands of dollars worth of school supplies to kids in atlanta for years to launch programs to help people learn financial literacy on the internet he tells these grim gruesome stories about murdering and maiming people in his music but outside the art he invests in the future in a positive uplifting way to me the story of 21 savage is unlike any other he's a unique character who understands the importance of smart business decisions he understands why you should invest in your community be a positive influence and to me that's the most important thing about him everybody comes into the world with challenges to overcome and he had more than most people can ever even imagine to make it out and go make the world a better more positive place through music and charity that is a hero's journey there's a reason people call 21 savage the most improved rapper of the last decade look at where he started and then look at where he is now that's dedication to your craft that is true artistry and speaking of artistry and dedication to your craft let's take a second and talk about nebula classes a brand new section on nebula that we just launched full of deep informative classes from some of the best creators anywhere and i'm extremely proud of my first class it's a comprehensive deep dive into my techniques for animations in my class i talk about all of my editing secrets and my creative process for coming up with good visual storytelling concepts and i think it's the perfect resource if you're looking to increase your production values and your own videos or if you want to learn more about animation as an art form or if you want to learn how to make the animations that i make for these videos i wanted this class to be a comprehensive overview of every aspect of my process so i really tried to include answers to just about every question you might have about my editing process and nebula classes have a really amazing production value and they look very professional which i'm super proud of right now there are new classes coming every week including some really interesting ones like alex from lowspecgamer's class on making quality content on a budget sarah feldman's class on producing pop music and legal eagles class on how to sue like a lawyer and since nebula classes is part of nebula when you sign up for nebula classes you get access to everything i've ever put on nebula including my exclusive series where i dive into the production and writing behind my favorite albums in a way that would never work on youtube i already have four episodes online including one about whole lot of red and one about the sound of tyler creators call me if you get lost you can watch nebula classes and nebula just about anywhere we have apple tv roku iphone android ipad support and the best part is nebula classes is only eight dollars a month or eighty dollars for the year so click the link below dive into my class on animation watch my nebula exclusive series and explore everything the platform has to offer that's nebulaclasses.com volksgeist support the channel and learn something new at the same time for just eight dollars for the month [Music] you

Channel: Volksgeist

Views: 136,424

Keywords: volksgeist, 21 savage, hip hop, music, video essay

Id: 7yRsTX3vFLo

Length: 29min 51sec (1791 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 24 2022