21 Savage announces new album, out this Friday

21 Savage has announced a new album, scheduled for release this Friday (January 12).

Yesterday (January 9), the rapper took to Instagram to announce ‘American Dream’, the follow-up to his 2018 sophomore album, ‘I Am > I Was’. Attached to a picture of the album’s cover was a caption which simply wrote, “My 3rd solo album AMERICAN DREAM this Friday,” followed by emojis of British and American flags, which seemed to reference his immigrant status in America.

The album cover also features more references to his non-American citizenship, depicting a childhood picture of the rapper overlaid with details of 21 Savage’s immigrant visa. The rapper, born Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was born in London to British nationals with Caribbean roots, and eventually moved to Atlanta with his mother at the age of seven.

Since announcing the album, 21 Savage has been revealing the artists featured on the album by posting childhood pictures of his collaborators on Instagram. So far, the rapper has revealed that fellow Atlanta rapper Young Thug, and singers Brent Faiyaz and Summer Walker will appear on ‘American Dream’. Besides these details, the album’s track listing has yet to be revealed.

21 Savage’s announcement of ‘American Dream’ shortly follows the release of the trailer to his upcoming biopic, American Dream: The 21 Savage Story, which arrived just a day before. The trailer, which was co-directed by Atlanta collaborators Stephen Glover, Jamal Olori and Fam Udeorji, alongside Luis Perez, featured Donald Glover and Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin playing 21 Savage at different ages. The four-minute, twenty-second clip also doubles as the music video for an unnamed track, which may presumably appear on the upcoming album.

Watch the trailer for American Dream: The 21 Savage Story below.

Based on the trailer, the film appears to follow 21 Savage’s life story, from his childhood experiences to his eventual arrest by the American Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in a “targetted operation” which revealed that the rapper was actually British, and has been staying in the United States for longer than his visa – which expired in 2006 – allowed. The film, which is co-written by Stephen Glover and Olori, will also feature appearances from Gail Bean, Druski, Jabari Banks, Chad Lindberg, Victoria Pedretti, Young Mazino, and Natasha Lyonne.

While no release date has been announced for the biopic, it is expected to arrive this year.

American Dream: The 21 Savage Story marks the latest collaboration between 21 Savage and Donald Glover, following Childish Gambino’s appearance on ‘I Am > I Was’, and earlier, 21 Savage’s uncredited appearance on Childish Gambino’s 2018 single ‘This Is America’, in which he provided ad-libs.

In December 2023, 21 Savage played a sold-out concert at the O2 Arena, which garnered a four-star review from NME, with Georgia Evans writing: “Savage’s chance to perform in the UK has been robbed for so long that just to be here, celebrating his career thus far, feels like a deliciously anarchic triumph.”

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