Welcome back, 21 Savage.
GRAMMY winner unleashes his third solo LP, american dream, featuring guest contributions from Travis Scott, Young Thug, Doja Cat, Summer Walker, Burna Boy, Mariah The Scientist, Lil Durk, and Brent Faiyaz. Production on the project comes from Metro Boomin, London on Da Track, OG Parker, Cardo Got Wings, FNZ, Honorable C.N.O.T.E., Spiff Sinatra, Kid Hazel, and more. american dream marks 21 Savage’s first studio album as a solo act since 2018’s i am > i was, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and earned 21 Savage his first GRAMMY victory.
Since then, the events of 21 Savage’s life have been the fodder of international news headlines. The result: an all-encompassing, triumphant studio album marking the return of one of rap’s preeminent hitmakers and entertainers.
At 15 tracks, american dream succinctly covers the many facets of 21 Savage that fans have been introduced to over the years. The intro, a spoken piece by 21 Savage’s mother, Heather Joseph, provides a chilling account of the sacrifice she made to allow her son to live ‘his American Dream.’ “As a mother, every path I walked was for my son,” she says. “Challenges were a part of the journey, and what I wanted was an afterthought.” Merely seconds later, the music begins, and it enters with a boom.
“All Of Me,” the track previewed in Savage’s star-studded album trailer on Monday, finds the rapper lamenting his rise to fame and the perils it’s surfaced along the way. “I know Satan down that path, but God walking with me,” he raps on the Spiff Sinatra-produced song. In the years since his last solo album, 21 Savage has remained sharp. Stylistically, the full suite is available. In street anthem mode, with acts like Lil Durk, Young Thug, and Travis Scott in tow, 21 Savage shines with his most complete songwriting to date. The rapper changes pace, whether on an R&B-tinged ballad with Summer Walker (“Prove It”) and Brent Faiyaz (“Should’ve Wore a Bonnet”), or in a brooding tone beside Mariah the Scientist (“Dark Days”), and he’s comfortable in each medium.
american dream arrives following a tightly-wrapped rollout that began in December, when 21 Savage began dropping ‘american dream’ breadcrumbs throughout the city of Atlanta, unveiling a series of altered American flags throughout the city in collaboration with creative multihyphenate and visual artist Hebru Brantley. Instead of the traditional 50-star layout, these flags were adorned with only 21 stars. “In creating this piece, I aimed to encapsulate the history of 21 Savage while incorporating elements of my connection to his music, says Hebru Brantley. The flag itself is black with 6 stripes, symbolizing what it means to be Black in America — it’s better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. For those with a discerning eye, my signature linework can be seen within the stripes. In those blue and red bands, some illustrations are deeply personal to both Savage and me – these elements speak to what 21 stands for through his music, his experiences, and the adversities he has faced.”
Additionally, this week, on Monday, 21 Savage premiered the album’s official visual trailer, which featured a slew of acting elites, including Donald Glover, Caleb McLaughlin, Natasha Lyonne, Gail Bean, Druski and Jabari Banks, with direction from Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Jamal Olori and Fam Udeorji. “21 Savage is upping the ante,” wrote Hypebeast of the short film.
On Wednesday, 21 Savage formally announced his January 12 release date revealed the American dream artwork, and featured guests with a series of never-before-seen baby photos, which generated over 5 million likes on Instagram.
who’s your favorite feature on 21 Savage’s ‘american dream’? 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/YmQPd4peS8
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) January 12, 2024
21 Savage enjoyed a banner year both personally and professionally in 2023. Following the release of 2022’s Billboard 200 Chart-topping album Her Loss, Savage’s collaborative LP with Drake, the Atlanta star embarked on a $100M+ grossing tour with his Canadian co-star, the It’s All A Blur Tour, and scored his fifth Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, as a featured artist on Metro Boomin’s double-platinum single, “Creepin.”
Last year, Savage visited and toured the UK for the first time since his 2019 detainment as part of an eight-city tour of Europe, a full-circle return to his birthplace of London, which the rapper called home until his family moved to the States. “Being back in London has brought back so many memories from my childhood,” 21 Savage told Interview Magazine. “This is my journey coming full circle and how far I have come.”
In February 2020, 21 Savage won his first GRAMMY award, “Best Rap Song,” for the J. Cole-featured “a lot” in February 2020. Nine months later, in October, he released Savage Mode 2, the sequel to his critically acclaimed debut, jointly with Metro Boomin. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and earned Savage a platinum single, “Mr. Right Now” and a multiplatinum single, “Runnin.”
Now, December 10 is “21 Savage Day” in Atlanta, an honor bestowed onto Savage by the Fulton County Commissioner in Georgia. To quote Ms. Joseph, “My dreams have always gone beyond the crossing of a pond.”
In the American dream, those dreams are actualized. 21 Savage’s third solo album is now available.
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