21 Savage

Propelled in 2016 by the hits "Red Opps" (#74) and "No Heart" (#43), British-born rapper 21 Savage (born Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph in London on October 22, 1992) grew up in the USA, in Atlanta, where his family settled in 2005. Expelled from college for bringing a gun, he took up rap after escaping death as a gang member during an attempted robbery on his 21st birthday. Following this incident, which claimed the life of his best friend, he recorded the track "Picky", produced in 2014 by DJ Plugg, then the mixtape The Slaughter Tape, released the following year with the EP Free Guwop with Sonny Digital and a second mixtape, Slaughter King. In 2016, his second EP Savage Mode (No. 23) opened a long and close collaboration with producer Metro Boomin, notably on "X" (No. 36) and "No Heart" (No. 43), charting on Billboard and in English-speaking countries. Invited by Drake on his track "Sneakin'", 21 Savage continued his ascent with his first solo album for the Epic label, Issa Album (No. 2 in 2017), from which the hit "Bank Account" (No. 12) was taken. A few months later, the collaborative album Without Warning, produced with Offset and Metro Boomin, reached No. 4. In addition to successive collaborations, most prominently with Post Malone on the number one "Rockstar " and Cardi B on "Bartier Cardi", his name appears on the soundtracks to the films Uncle Drew and Superfly. During 2018, he also set about recording his second album, I Am > I Was, at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, from which the duet "A Lot" with J. Cole was taken. The duet reached number 12 in the US charts, earning the rapper his first Grammy Award. Although he keeps a low profile in 2019, leaking just one song, "Immortal" (No. 55), 21 Savage prepares two collaborative albums released within a month of each other, Savage Mode II with Metro Boomin and Her Loss with Drake, both reaching No. 1 in autumn 2022. After further collaborations with Nas, The Weeknd and Usher, his third personal album American Dream (#1 in seven countries in early 2024) featured guest appearances from the likes of Doja Cat, Summer Walker, Young Thug, Lil Durk, Brent Faiyaz, Burna Boy and Mariah the Scientist. The following year, What Happened to the Streets? featuring collaborations with Latto, Drake, Lil Baby, GloRilla, G Herbo, Young Nudy and Metro Boomin, reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200.