About

21 Savage is an English-born rapper based in Atlanta, Georgia. He gained fame in 2016 after his single "X" and his guest spot on the Drake song "Sneakin." After gaining popularity over the following several years, the rapper was arrested by ICE for allegedly staying in the United States past his visa and faces deportation to England.

History

21 Savage, real name Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was born October 22nd, 1992 in London, England.^[1] He moved to Atlanta, Georgia at the age of 12. He had a troubled youth. He was involved in gang activity and has been shot multiple times, losing friends and family to gang violence. He began rapping at the age of 21, releasing his debut single "Picky" on November 21st, 2014 (shown below, left). His debut mixtape, The Slaughter Tape, was released on May 25th, 2015. He began receiving buzz in 2016^[2] and on July 14th of that year released "X" (shown below, right).

His debut full-length album, Issa Album, debuted at number 2 on the Billboard top 200 in 2017.^[3] He released a collaborative album with Metro Boomin, Without Warning, in 2017 and released I Am > I Was on December 21st, 2018.

ICE Arrest

On February 3rd, 2019, 21 Savage was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for allegedly outstaying his visa which expired in 2005.^[1] Savage's visa allegedly expired in 2006. He had previously reported that he was born in Atlanta, Georgia.^[4] Some Twitter users responded with jokes about the arrest and the discovery 21 Savage was British. For example, user @tcibs posted a joke that gained over 7,200 retweets and 24,000 likes (shown below, left). Another by @ethanseylar gained 26 likes (shown below, right).

Demi Lovato Tweet

Later that day, during Super Bowl LIII, Demi Lovato tweeted, "So far 21 Savage memes have been my favorite part of the Super Bowl."^[5] The tweet was decried for being insensitive to the situation. Twitter user @AshleeMPreston called the tweet tone deaf (shown below, left). Rapper Wale tweeted criticism of the tweet, gaining over 3,600 retweets and 7,500 likes (shown below, right). After the backlash, Lovato deleted her social media accounts.

Chris Brown Instagram Post

That same day, R&B singer Chris Brown] posted a video in which 21's 2016 XXL Freshman cypher was edited to feature the vocals of Big Shaq, a U.K.-based rapper/comedian mocking 21's UK citizenship and possible deportation (shown below).

American Rapper, Offset, Responded to the post by commenting "Meme's ain't funny lame." Chris Brown was aggressively responded with a commenting "F**k you lil boy. Better worry about what u got going and focus on 'you. All this cap on IG is what's lame. Yo energy wont [sic] that when I came to Drake show in LA. If you don't get yo a hip a hop a hibbet a hibbet to the hip hip hop and ya don't stop the rockin facea** out of my comments. Sensitive a** n***a. Call me personally. U want some clout when all u gotta do is pull up […] If you a real man fight me. Oh and another thing, suck my dick!" (shown below, left). Offset responded in his Instagram^[11] stories saying "Coke head don't want [smoke emoji]" (shown below, right).

Online Presence

21 Savage has gained over 1.2 million Facebook likes,^[6] 2.88 Twitter followers^[7] and 9.1 million Instagram followers.^[8] His ICE arrest was a trending topic on multiple subreddits on February 3rd.^[9]

Related Memes

21 Savage Supervillain

21 Savage Supervillain refers to a series of image macros featuring a picture rapper and recording artist 21 Savage that people online say looks like a comic book villain. On March 1st, 2017, rapper 21 Savage appeared on ESPN's Highly Questionable. During the appearance, 21 Savage appeared via satellite with a new haircut and in front of a green screen of a cityscape. The appearance became a brief source of controversy after the rapper was cut off by ESPN, presumably for rapping one of his songs while self-censoring inappropriate language with coughs. Later that week, on March 8th, Twitter user @Trashvis^[1] tweeted a screenshot from the interview with the caption "why this pic look like 21 Savage is a supervillain interrupting a broadcast to reveal his evil plan to the world." The post (shown below) received more than 113,000 retweets and 215,000 likes in three months.

I've Been In the Hills

I've Been In the Hills refers to a lyric by rapper 21 Savage in the song "Rockstar" by Post Malone in which 21 Savage says "I've been in the hills fuckin' superstars." The lyric has been remixed in various ways in YouTube videos, such as lyrical edits that make the line "I've been in the hills fuckin' dudes" and ear rape remixes.

On November 21st, 2017, Post Malone released the song "Rockstar" featuring 21 Savage. The music video for the song gained over 298 million views (shown below).

On December 4th, 2017, YouTuber Ethan Duhammer uploaded an ear rape remix of the line, gaining over 6,000 views (shown below, left). However, the lyric did not start becoming a meme until February of 2018. On February 23rd, YouTuber Rockoutvic uploaded a parody which made the lyric "I've been in the hills fuckin' dudes," gaining over 21,000 views (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References