Future Stars: 21 Savage (Epic/Sony)

Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.

If you think Sam Hunt’s lyrics are icky, don’t look up what 21 Savage said about Kylie Jenner. Unfortunately sexism is even less of a barrier to success in the rap scene than it is in country. 24-year-old Shayaa Joseph, aka 21 Savage, is a rapper from Atlanta and former teenage gang member. He was expelled from school for carrying a gun in seventh grade, and nearly died when he was shot six times on his 21st birthday. This experience inspired him to focus on music as a distraction from his gang life, and success came quickly. He released his first homemade mixtape in 2015, and months later was named among XXL’s 2016 Freshman class, an influential list of the hottest rappers for the year ahead. In January this year he signed to Epic Records, and last month released his amusingly-titled debut album Issa Album, which reached no.2 on the Billboard 200. He’s also currently enjoying his biggest hit so far with Bank Account, his first top 20 single on the Billboard Hot 100. The track has been played over 50 million times on Spotify in less than a month. 21 Savage also stars in a new Adidas campaign with fellow up-and-comers Young Thug and Playboi Carti, and has collaborated with Drake, Future, Travis Scott and others.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *