21 Savage

Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph was born on October 22, 1992 at Newham University Hospital in Plaistow, London, to British parents Heather Carmillia Joseph and Kevin Cornelius Emmons. His family is of Caribbean descent; his mother's family is from Dominica, and his father's is from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, while his paternal grandfather was Haitian. American rapper Young Nudy is his cousin. His father and twin sisters, dance choreographers Kyra and Jayda Davis, continue to live in London, where his father works for Westminster City Council. Abraham-Joseph's parents separated early in his life, and he moved at age seven with his mother to Atlanta, Georgia. In June 2005, at age 12, he returned to the United Kingdom for his uncle's funeral, stayed for a month, and then went back to Atlanta on an H-4 visa on July 22, 2005, which allegedly expired a year later. In seventh grade at Stone Mountain Middle School, Abraham-Joseph was placed on probation for gun possession. Following a probation violation in eighth grade, he was expelled from the DeKalb County School District. This led him to begin attending schools around the Atlanta metropolitan area before being sent to a juvenile detention center. After being released from the juvenile detention center, he completed eighth grade through an alternative program before finishing a semester of high school, but dropped out in his freshman year following multiple exclusions that he said "exhausted" him. After dropping out, he joined a local street gang affiliated with the wider Bloods gang and became a full-time drug dealer, In 2011, when he was 19, his right-hand man was killed in a shootout. ==Career==

2013–2015: Early releases, The Slaughter Tape, and Slaughter King Following the death of his friend in a shootout on his 21st birthday, 21 Savage began rapping. His music career was originally subsidized by his deceased friend's uncle, who gave him money for studio time in 2013. His debut mixtape, The Slaughter Tape, which was released on May 25, 2015. The release made him what Interview Magazine called an "underground hero in Atlanta". It is a tribute EP to fellow rapper and influence Gucci Mane. On December 1, 2015, 21 Savage released his second mixtape, Slaughter King. 2016–2017: Savage Mode, Issa Album, and Without Warning In June 2016, 21 Savage was named as one of the "Freshman Class" of 2016 by XXL. On July 15, 2016, 21 Savage released his joint EP Savage Mode with Atlanta-based record producer Metro Boomin. The EP gained international success and peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200, which became their highest charting EP to date. In November 2016, he was on the cover of The Fader. The Savage Mode single "X" featuring Future was confirmed by Billboard as going platinum in the US, being 21 Savage's first platinum record. On January 18, 2017, 21 Savage announced that he had signed to Epic Records. In 2017, his debut studio album, Issa Album, debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200. Its lead single, "Bank Account", peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that year, he was featured on Post Malone's single "Rockstar", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and broke numerous records. It became 21 Savage's first number-one song and was later certified Diamond by the RIAA. On October 31, 2017, a collaborative studio album by 21 Savage, Offset, and Metro Boomin titled Without Warning was released. Without Warning debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 and received generally positive reviews from critics. Its lead single, "Ric Flair Drip" peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. 2018–2019: I Am > I Was In April 2018, 21 Savage had a guest appearance on Young Thug's extended play Hear No Evil along with fellow rappers Nicki Minaj and Lil Uzi Vert. Later that month, he also appeared on the single "Outstanding" by SahBabii. On March 21, 2018, he was featured on the single "Rover 2.0", which is part of BlocBoy JB's Simi mixtape. In the following month, he was featured on Ty Dolla Sign's "Clout", which was part of the deluxe edition of his album Beach House 3. On October 31, 2018, 21 Savage posted on his Instagram a picture of a man in silhouette jumping in the air in the direction away from a large blaze. In the bottom right corner of the picture there was a "Parental Advisory" notice, as there oftentimes is on the cover of rap releases. 21 Savage also tagged Metro Boomin in the post. For these reasons, some speculated it to be a sequel to 2017's Without Warning album. However, it turned out to be the cover for Metro's debut solo album, Not All Heroes Wear Capes. On December 6, 2018, 21 Savage posted cover art for his album, I Am > I Was, on Instagram, which features a blurred out image of himself, captioning the image with a number of goat emojis. The next day, 21 Savage took to Twitter and his Instagram story to apologize that he "forgot" to release the album, saying on Twitter: "Dam I forgot to drop my album my bad y'all". He announced a new date of December 21, 2018. The track-list was leaked by record producer Louis Bell via his Instagram story on December 13, 2018. 21 Savage released his second studio album I Am > I Was on December 21, 2018, with features from Travis Scott, Post Malone, Childish Gambino, Offset, J. Cole, Gunna, Lil Baby, Project Pat, Yung Miami, and Schoolboy Q. None of those acts, however, are credited as artists on the album. I Am > I Was debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, earning 131,000 album-equivalent units (including 18,000 pure album sales), making it 21 Savage's first US number one album. It was led by "A Lot", featuring vocals from J. Cole. The song peaked at number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and earned 21 Savage his first Grammy award. Through 2019, 21 Savage released only one song named "Immortal". 2020–2023: Savage Mode II, Spiral soundtrack, and Her Loss In February 2020, 21 Savage and longtime collaborator Metro Boomin hinted at the release of a sequel to their Savage Mode extended play called Savage Mode II. On September 28, 2020, a teaser trailer for Savage Mode II, directed by Gibson Hazard was released, with a narration from Morgan Freeman, announcing the release date of October 2. The collaborative album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, debuting with 171,000 first week sales. The album included two top-ten singles, "Runnin", and "Mr. Right Now", featuring Drake. In April 2021, 21 Savage announced the release of his new EP, Spiral, serving as the official soundtrack to the film Spiral: From the Book of Saw. 21 Savage was featured alongside Justin Bieber on DJ Khaled's April 2021-released single "Let It Go" from Khaled's twelfth studio album, Khaled Khaled. Months later, in October 2021, Abraham-Joseph appeared as a feature on the remix of Nardo Wick's "Who Want Smoke?" alongside G Herbo and Lil Durk. The track peaked at number seventeen on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA. On November 16, 2021, Savage appeared as a feature on Drake's "Knife Talk" alongside Project Pat from his September 2021, Certified Lover Boy. The track peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and was later certified 5× Platinum by the RIAA. On January 14, 2022, 21 Savage appeared as a feature alongside Baby Tate on JID's "Surround Sound". On February 4, 2022, 21 Savage was featured on the single "Don't Play That" by Chicago rapper King Von, as the first single for the posthumous album What It Means to Be King. The single was accompanied by a related music video. The tune peaked at number 40 on Billboard Hot 100, and at number 59 on Billboard Global 200. On March 11, 2022, Savage appeared as a feature on Latto's "Wheelie", the third single from her sophomore album, 777. Months later, on June 10, 2022, Savage appeared as a feature alongside Tyler, the Creator on Pharrell Williams' "Cash In Cash Out". Just a week later, on June 17, 2022, 21 Savage appeared as a feature on "Jimmy Cooks", the outro track of Drake's seventh studio album, Honestly, Nevermind. The track debuted at the number one position the Billboard Hot 100, marking Savage's second chart-topping single. The track was later re-released as a single on October 11, 2022. Just over a week later, on October 22, 2022, Drake and 21 Savage released the official music video for "Jimmy Cooks", announcing the release of the two's collaborative studio album, Her Loss, which was released on November 4, 2022. Upon release, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 404,000 units, marking Abraham-Joseph's fifth top ten entry and his third consecutive album to top the charts. All sixteen tracks from the album debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, while eight of them appeared in the top ten. On December 2, 2022, 21 Savage appeared on four tracks from Metro Boomin's sophomore album, Heroes & Villains: "Umbrella" with Young Nudy, "Creepin'" with the Weeknd, "Niagara Falls (Foot or 2)" with Travis Scott, and "Walk Em Down (Don't Kill Civilians)" featuring Mustafa. "Creepin'" was re-released as the lead single from the album on January 27, 2023. The track peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The track later received a remix featuring Diddy. On February 28, 2023, Savage appeared on Young Nudy's "Peaches & Eggplants". The track was re-released as the lead single from Nudy's album, Gumbo on May 16, 2023. On March 31, 2023, Savage appeared as a feature alongside DaBaby on Gucci Mane's "06 Gucci". On May 26, 2023, Savage was recruited by Lil Durk as a feature on "War Bout It" from his album Almost Healed. On June 2, 2023, Savage appeared as a feature on two tracks from Metro Boomin's soundtrack album, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: "Nonviolent Communication" with James Blake and ASAP Rocky, and "Givin' Up (Not the One)" with Don Toliver and 2 Chainz. On the same day, Savage appeared as a feature on Toosii's album, Naujour on the thirteenth cut, "Pull Up". On June 23, 2023, Savage appeared as a feature on the remix of Burna Boy's "Sittin' on Top of the World". The remix received a nomination for Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. On the same day, Savage appeared as a feature on two tracks from Young Thug's third studio album, Business Is Business: "Wit da Racks" with Travis Scott and Yak Gotti, and "Want Me Dead". Just weeks later, Savage appeared as a feature on two tracks from Travis Scott's fourth studio album, Utopia: "Topia Twins" with Rob49 and "Til Further Notice" with James Blake and Lauryn Hill. Months later, on September 15, 2023, Savage appeared as a feature on "Turks & Caicos" from Rod Wave's fifth studio album, Nostalgia. On the same day, he appeared on "Another One of Me" alongside Diddy, the Weeknd, and French Montana. Just a month later, Savage appeared on Drake's "Calling for You" from his eighth studio album, For All the Dogs. 2024–present: American Dream and What Happened to the Streets? On January 8, 2024, 21 Savage announced that a biopic titled American Dream: The 21 Savage Story was coming soon and was set to feature himself, Donald Glover and Caleb McLaughlin as the leads. However on January 24, Savage confirmed on Shannon Sharpe's podcast, Club Shay Shay that the movie does not exist and its "trailer" is a parody. On January 10, 2024, Savage announced his third studio album American Dream. On January 12, 2024, the album was released and featured guest appearances from Travis Scott, Young Thug, Doja Cat, Brent Faiyaz, Ye, Lil Durk, Summer Walker, Mariah the Scientist, Burna Boy and Metro Boomin. Upon release, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 133,000 units, marking Abraham-Joseph's sixth top ten entry and his fourth consecutive album to top the charts. American Dream was supported by the singles "Redrum" and "N.H.I.E." with Doja Cat, both of which debuted at number five and nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. Burna Boy performed the song at the ceremony on February 4, 2024, alongside 21 Savage and Brandy, whose 1998 single "Top of the World" was heavily sampled in the single. On December 7, 2025, 21 Savage began teasing his fourth studio album titled What Happened to the Streets?. The album was released on December 12, 2025. It featured guest appearances from Young Nudy, Latto, GloRilla, Drake, G Herbo, Metro Boomin, Lil Baby, and Jawan Harris. ==Musical style==

Called "one of the last real street niggas left making music" by frequent collaborator Metro Boomin, 21 Savage's music is heavily autobiographic with an emphasis on violent and criminal aspects of his past, including alleged murder and drug dealing. His musical style is influenced by Three 6 Mafia. ==Philanthropy==

In early August 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, 21 Savage hosted the "Issa Back to School Drive" (named after his album Issa Album) in his home neighborhood in Atlanta. The drive gave free haircuts, hairstyles, supplies, and school uniforms. In March 2018, 21 Savage announced the creation of the 21 Savage Bank Account Campaign (named after his hit song "Bank Account") on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, he also announced that he was donating $21,000 to the cause. He stated, "I started the 21 Savage Bank Account Campaign and it's to help kids learn how to save money and make money, and open bank accounts for kids." Four months later, he donated $10,000 to Atlanta's Continental Colony Elementary School to fund an anti-bullying campaign. On July 1, 2020, 21 Savage announced he was launching a free online financial literacy education program for kids and teenagers stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying, "I feel like it's important more than ever to give our next generation the tools to succeed in life." The program includes a partnership with Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to provide free tablets and WiFi to underserved students in Atlanta. ==Personal life==

21 Savage is a father of three. He shares two sons, born in 2013 and 2015, with Keyanna Joseph, and has a daughter, also born in 2015, from another relationship. 21 Savage and his mother are both adherents of the traditional West African religion Ifá. In June 2017, he started dating model Amber Rose, but had separated in May 2018. In October 2017, he began taking flying lessons in a Cirrus SR20 single-engine aircraft. In 2018, 21 Savage reportedly started a movement called "Guns Down, Paintballs Up" which was intended to reduce gun violence by suggesting the use of paintball guns instead of lethal firearms. The head of the Detroit Police Department, James Craig, described the movement as "well-intentioned, however, misguided", after several incidents involving paintball guns later resulted in injuries, disorderly conduct involving large groups of people with paintball guns, property vandalism (e.g., of police vehicles), violent reprisals, and the mistaking of paintball guns for firearms. The movement has been linked to several cases of property crime and homicide. 21 Savage has not commented on the matter, although he paid for the funeral of a 3-year-old who was killed in a related incident. 21 Savage later apologized, saying on Twitter, "The Jewish people I know are very wise with there money so that's why I said we been gettin' Jewish money. I never thought anyone would take offense, I'm sorry if I offended everybody, never my intention I love all people with all my heart." In November 2020, 21 Savage's half brother, Terrell Davis ("TM1Way"), was stabbed to death in Lambeth, London. In September 2025, Latto confirmed her relationship with 21 Savage, after rumors of them being romantically linked. In March 2026, Latto announced that she and 21 Savage are expecting a child together. Feuds In early 2020, a feud between 21 Savage and American producer Young Chop arose after Chop insulted 21 Savage on an Instagram livestream. On April 6, while reportedly taking an Uber in 21 Savage's neighborhood in an attempt to find where he lived, Chop stated that an unknown gunman fired at his car, but he was not injured. No other sources have confirmed whether or not this story is true and no gunshots were captured on the video in which he made the accusation. ==Legal issues==

21 Savage was convicted of felony drug charges in October 2014 in Fulton County, Georgia. Controversy arose after 21 Savage pulled out a firearm during a pool party on June 10, 2018. 21 Savage had been given the firearm by a friend after seeing an opposing crew member also pull out a pistol. On February 15, 2019, 21 Savage turned himself in to authorities and was booked into a south Georgia jail in response to a warrant for his arrest for felony theft by deception. This dispute surrounds a gig arranged in 2016 for which the rapper allegedly accepted a payment of $17,000 to appear at a concert, but did not appear and did not give back the money. He was released on his own recognizance, pending a court hearing on a later date to resolve the charge. Illegal immigration charges On February 3, 2019, just two days after releasing the music video for his single "A Lot", 21 Savage was taken into custody by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after a vehicle was pulled over that contained him and his cousin, Young Nudy, and two other men. Young Nudy and the two other men had been targeted in an operation involving charges of aggravated assault and violation of the Georgia Gang Act. 21 Savage later alleged that he was personally also targeted in the operation. After his arrest, ICE revealed that 21 Savage is a British national who has been in the United States unlawfully since his non-immigrant visa expired in July 2006. 21 Savage's management team expresses he has been trying to get his visa renewed since the year 2017. Before this, 21 Savage had commonly been believed to be a native of the Atlanta area – e.g., Interview magazine had reported in an interview with Seth Rogen in April 2018 that the rapper's birthplace was Atlanta, Georgia, and in a 2016 interview with XXL, he said he was "from Decatur, Georgia" (which is in the Atlanta metropolitan area). A spokesperson for ICE said of 21 Savage, "His whole public persona is false. He actually came to the U.S. from the U.K. as a teen and overstayed his visa." A birth certificate then surfaced showing that 21 Savage was born in Newham, London on October 22, 1992, which indicates that he had been 12 years old in July 2005 – not "a teen." Moreover, he had first entered the U.S. at age 7, only leaving in 2005 to attend his uncle's funeral and re-entering that same year. 21 Savage was released from ICE's custody on February 13, 2019. An immigration hearing for his case was scheduled for April 9 of the same year, but postponed indefinitely due to court backlogs. 21 Savage's immigration case was further delayed after he was charged with other crimes in January 2022. On October 5, 2023, rapper Drake released the single "8AM in Charlotte", on which he claimed that 21 Savage had received a green card. 21 Savage and his attorney confirmed the claim the following day. Lawsuits In November 2022, 21 Savage and Drake were sued by Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue magazine, for using the Vogue name without permission to promote their collaborative album Her Loss. ==Discography==

Studio albums • Issa Album (2017) • I Am > I Was (2018) • American Dream (2024) • What Happened to the Streets? (2025) Collaborative albums • Without Warning (with Offset and Metro Boomin) (2017) • Savage Mode II (with Metro Boomin) (2020) • Her Loss (with Drake) (2022) ==Filmography==

21 Savage has also worked on a YouTube animated mini-series named Year 2100. Video games ==Tours==

Headlining • Issa Tour (2017) • Numb the Pain Tour (2017) • I Am > I Was Tour (2019) • American Dream Tour (2024) Co-headlining • The Off-Season Tour (2021) • It's All a Blur Tour (2023) Opening act • HiHorse'd Tour (2016) • Beerbongs & Bentleys Tour (2018) ==Awards and nominations==