21's evolution (professional and personal) has been crazy! He is currently THE MOST mainstream rapper amongst his contemporaries from 2016-2017. A great point you mentioned in the video was how he has collaborated with artists like J. Cole, Childish Gambino, Lil Baby, Nardo Wick, Nas, Drake, and now the new hit CREEPIN' with The Weeknd. As a result of these collaborations with artists from a variety of genres, 21 Savage now caters to a very wide and large audience that isn't just restricted to his previous street-style/gang-style music (2016-2018). The turning point was I AM > I WAS. He's put in his best for that album and has only upped the levels since as well. His run on features in the last 18 months has been crazy. Her Loss with Drake was an entertaining project. And to round the year off, he snapped on all 4 of his features on Metro Boomin's Heroes & Villains. Expecting a solo album from him in 2023. If he plans it out right, next year will be the biggest for him!
@@KingBenny Lil peep died, xxxtentacion died and juice wrld died. Some rappers who haven't died like lil xan ended up falling off. So soundcloud rap is dead
I feel like issa album doesn’t deserve such harsh criticism. Nothin New is a deep song. Dead people is a sad song. FaceTime is a love song. Bank account is an absolute banger. I feel that there’s lots of variation and it’s a great album.
late 2022 is one of the high points of his career with features with big artists, her loss, and heroes and villains he is definitely building up hype for a solo album (maybe with metro if we are lucky but with heroes and villains and sm2 being his last album chances are low). I wish he would drop more singles though, i can name all of his songs and being able to just have a few more would be great
Absolutely. Just needs to drop a few more singles. I'm guessing his next release will be a solo album which he's already been working on. Hopefully we get in in the first half of next year. He's very good at putting together a body of work. I AM > I WAS was great and it was released in 2018. Can only get better!
@@rahuldevalla4176 yep, with silence for 2 years i dont think her loss and heroes and villains is it because even though they are great albums, he doesnt get much time on either
@@thestrangler2688 It of course isn't. H&V is Metro's album and he's just featured on few of the songs. Her Loss is a collab that him and Drake finished up in like 4 months. He's already been working on his solo album (he mentioned it on a podcast 5 months earlier) so I'm almost certain he'll drop it in the next 6 months.
@@rahuldevalla4176 H&V featured 21 and he did phenomenal, why does it matter when he did the drake album, and what else would a rapper be doing during a very tame social media appearance. He secured a collab album with one of the biggest rappers right now and that metro album was just more on top of that. He is doing the highest numbers he ever has (I think) and he also secured a feature on a Nas song which is just a bonus
I enjoyed listening to 21 because of his flow and his rhyming schemes. He rhymes one word in more than two lines. On top of that, it feels as if he’s telling a story. The wordplay he has is impeccable.
21 stood out by not trying to stand with chains n stuff. n the beats that he used in his songs are 🔥🔥. n he collaborated w really great artists to get their attention
I think what makes 21 stand out from other mumble rappers and hood rappers in general, is his personality and his approach to life and business outside of music. 21 progressed himself and his career by learning from his surroundings, unlike a lotta other artists who basically said 'f*ck everyone, I'm rich!', 21 knew he was good for now, but also knew that he needed to evolve to maintain what he had. You can see it with his frequent collaborations with timeless artists such as Drake, Post Malone, Pharrell Williams and J Cole, he's always out there learning from the greats. Compare that to for instance Kodak Black, both rappers from the trenches with lots of talent... 21 quickly took steps to get out of the hood and get away from the people and activities that would hold him down, Kodak Black however has had heaps of cases and been involved with assult cases and what not. He also takes a lotta drugs, while 21 Savage seems pretty clean and subsequently is able to secure those grammy winning features and market appeal.
the mumble rapper curse itself kinda turned into a joke, tho. like, most of the big "mumble rappers" (carti, uzi, yachty, kodak, etc.) are still doing SUPER well today, they never really fell off. people see pump and smokepurpp and just apply that to the whole genre.
I used to dislike 21 heavily back in 2017 because he sounded like these others with no deeper skill set. Now, I’d say he’s one of my favorite rappers for just how amazing his evolution is
Issa is actually good, all the songs have relaxing flow, issa introduced me to 21 savage; Numb is my fav song. Savage mode 1 is one of a kind album metro and savage did good 1:1. I started listening 21 savage from 2017, And now it's 2022 and still he is no 1 I listen to. His old songs like in savage mode, issa, without warning was out of the world flow and unique lyrics. Later from i am>i was he started to change his style of rapping. He is my inspiration. I'm from India and his music introduced me to a whole new world of hip hop trap.
Super Interesting video, really enjoy the subject of 21's trajectory in music. I am a little bit confused tho as to what your explanation on how he got out of the label of being a "mumble rapper" is, I know you had mentioned that he evolved from being a somewhat 1 dimension artist but it was a little unclear to me if this was your justification for how he got out of the mumble rapper trap. And if this is the case, in what way would you say he changed or improved that helped him get out? You also mentioned that he was recognized by highly reputable artists like Schoolboy Q and Childish Gambino as well as being supported by Jay Z when he was going viral for actually being British - so I wasn't super sure if you were trying to say that his virality+his connections within music helped him to escape the mumble rapper label. Or if you are trying to suggest it is a connection between all of these factors plus improving his musical ability. I know that on Issa Album you mentioned he changed his sound away from being dark and violent- but it didn't really work. However with I am>I was - changing his sound was super effective. Just curious to see what you think changed between these two albums to make it so that I am>I was turned out to be a hit.
Basically... all the things where I spoke more ab the whole mumble rapper stuff and the sound of his music I just ended up cutting out cause it was boring ngl
@@KingBenny Not everyone, not even a majority of them thought of him as a mumble rapper. There were a decent bunch of them however that put him under that category and I think that was mainly because of the sound of his music in the early days. Although ISSA didn't work out as much, I think he improved lyrically on that album and ventured into a few more topics other than just his previous gang/street topics. A lot of them say he's evolved drastically since I AM > I WAS but I personally feel like it all started with ISSA.
@@rahuldevalla4176 aye man... I looked up mumble rapper on Google images and 21 Savage was grouped in always... I never thought of 21 as a mumble rapper but others did
@@rahuldevalla4176 same here. Never saw 21 as a mumble rapper. I think the creator of this video is basically saying he came up at the same time with a lot of mumble rappers so he kinda just blended in with that crowd for a while especially on the media.
Plus, rapping on sampled beats (made of sampled soul vocals etc) like j cole and kendrick lamar, and not only in dark trap beats helped a lot in my opinion
I wouldn’t classify 22 as a mumble rapper honestly. Even as far back as songs like X and No Heart you can understand everything he’s saying. It may have been boring and lifeless to some people, but to say he was mumbling is just wrong imo
Mumble rap in reality isn't even "mumble rap" it was used for generic trap artist and generic SoundCloud rappers. Most of whom didn't even mumble we just branded it as such because they don't have as much lyrical content as a lyrical rapper. They have way more use of generic bars and unimpressive flows and rhythm patterns. Meanwhile more "lyrical" rappers are more creative with their bars, more flow switches, multisyllabic rhyme schemes, double/triple entendre's, solid punchlines and such. 21 savage used to be a generic trap artist but in recent years (especially with j.cole songs) he's become more of a mix using his trap element to his advantage but still having creative punchlines and at least trying to have a decent flow. This combination is what makes him appeal to the older and younger audiences in the rap industry. Hope this helps.
@@Enjoipandas13 shit Kodaks dumbass had grills on so his shit was fucked for a while till he got used to em. Uzi has become a big part of hip hop and its future, yachty just chilling in life making better shit then he ever did before and juice x and peep all had big career before dying and improved as artists to a point that's makes their deaths even more sad. The only true mumble rappers were people who have died off and mean nothing to hip-hop anymore
@@user-sm7yv3pf6z nah playboi carti was definitely a mumble rapper nobody could understand what he was saying most of the time. He admitted it and wasn't bothered at all.
When talking to my British friend he always telling me Brits show love to American rappers but Americans don’t reciprocate with British rappers. Had to let ‘em know he was wrong, he asked me name one British rapper Americans listen to. Told him “21 Savage”. He then proceeded to say nothing and moved on from the conversation.
@@dizzyWLRD *correction nobody in the UK listens to him, most of his monthly listeners are 13 year old Europeans, people like Dave are far more popular in the UK than in Europe and abroad than cee
