The 31-year-old rapper has come a long way since entering the States legally around the age of 7, being arrested in 2019 for remaining in the country on an expired visa, and receiving his official green card in 2023, per reports from Rolling Stone and ABC News.
With so many of today’s youth relating to the messages in his music, 21 Savage continues to be a force of his own, and it hasn’t been until recent years that he realized rap could take him this far.
“I ain’t think it was gone be like this, no h-ll nah, cause back then it was like, people was blowing up, but I don’t know if people was blowing up that big,” he told host Shannon Sharpe during an appearance on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast.
“I remember when I had caught my first lil song, I remember I used to be sitting at Sonny [Digital’s] house, like ‘Man, when the hell you supposed to start getting show money, bruh?’” 21 Savage recalled. “And he used to be like, ‘Don’t worry bruh, it’s gone come. Trust me bruh, it’s gone come.’”
On Jan. 12, 2024, the “A Lot” emcee released his third studio album, “American Dream,” and the response to the project has garnered rave reviews and positive feedback.
According to Billboard, the set debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 following its release and had “133,000 equivalent album units earned in its opening week (Jan. 12-18),” per Luminate.
While there is an argument as to whether or not streaming equals money in an artist’s pockets, 21 Savage admits that the new ways that consumers digest music have been quite lucrative for him.
“I think it all depends on how your deal is structured, cause it’s some money in streaming,” he told Sharpe. “ It’s just about how your deal is structured and how much you stream. It gotta be some money in streaming because my label be giving me some money.”
With so many of his peers, such as Future, Metro Boomin’, and a host of others resorting to selling their catalogs, 21 Savage says he has considered it, but there are a couple of things that make him less interested in doing so at the moment.
“Probably later on down the line. I only got a couple albums right now though,” he explained.
“It depends on how much I apply my hustle,” 21 Savage continued. “Cause I might f–k around and invest in something and become a billionaire and be able to pass my catalog down to my kids. I might not even have to sell my catalog.”
For now, 21 Savage is enjoying the ride and taking notes from people who inspire him like fellow Atlanta, GA, rapper, T.I.
As previously reported by AFROTECH, the veteran rapper turned down the chance to sign 21 Savage early on in his career.
21 Savage confirmed that this story was true, explaining how T.I. had given him an initial offer, but 21 Savage declined it requesting more money. The “Rubber Band Man” rapper would not agree to the higher number because he told the young rapper, at the time, he didn’t want to have take more out of his pockets as a result of the deal.
“T.I. just cheap as h-ll,” 21 Savage joked to Sharpe. “He sent me an offer and my counter offer was like, ‘I want a million’ and he was like ‘Imma have to take so much from you in return, that it ain’t even gone be worth the million in the future.’”
He continued: “I look up to T.I. cause T.I. one of them …. He’s rich as a mothaf–ka, but he tight as h-ll. That’s how he keep that money though. He’s smart with his money.”
It looks like not only does 21 Savage have an eye for making hit music, but he’s taking every business lesson in stride to set himself and his children up for success in the long run.
