American Dream Album Review
American Dream Album Review
21 Savage turns his painful past into a passionate portrait
By Dylan Barbee
When the world found out in 2019 that rapper 21 Savage had overstayed his visa and wasn’t originally from the United States it took both the music industry and the internet by storm. The shocking finding that 21 Savage was from the UK and moved at seven years old made listeners question his legitimacy as an Atlanta trap artist who had devoted his craft to illustrating the distressing lifestyle of being surrounded and involved in gang violence. However, on American Dream 21 Savage continues to discuss his upbringing in Atlanta from a more well-thought-out and grown perspective. The rapper finally confronts the immigration controversy of his childhood years through the album’s presentation as well as containing some narrative moments about him building something out of nothing.
American Dream consists of 15 songs that span across an intriguing 50-minute listen. There are features from Young Thug on the song “pop ur shit”, Doja Cat on “n.h.i.e”, Brent Faiyaz on “should’ve wore a bonnet” and many more through the tracklist. On American Dream 21 Savage proves that he can adapt to new sounds and work well with other artists while at times providing impressive lyrical performances that are in-depth storytelling on an array of different production styles.
The title track serves as a bittersweet introduction where 21’s mother, Heather Carmilla Joseph describes how her decision to immigrate to the United States was to have her child live a better life than she did. She acknowledges that there were hardships and difficult transitions that they both had to go through when they first arrived but with resilience, they got through it. “For all the trials and all the pain, The mission is, as it’s always been, For my son to become a man and live free in his American Dream,” Joseph said.
The first batch of songs on American Dream are reminiscent of Savage’s 2016 Savage Mode when it comes to his lyricism mostly touching on murder, guns and gang activity. However, his monotone voice is innovated by some great sample selections and hip-hop production on both “all of me” and “redrum”.
Savage’s storytelling through his lyricism is what American Dream is going to be remembered for. “letter to my brudda” is a song dedicated to Young Thug as 21 describes how he feels sympathetic for the fellow Atlanta rapper’s current situation as some of his closest friends who claimed to be loyal are taking plea deals. The outro track “dark days” featuring Mariah The Scientist is the most emotionally impactful song on American Dream as he dives deep into his own issues of mental health and the lasting trauma he has from his upbringing in Atlanta, advising young teenagers in lower-class conditions to stay in school and to not join a violent street gang like he did. It’s one of 21 Savage’s best songs to date as he recognizes that he needs to use his status to talk about the experiences he went through in a way that steers his fanbase to make smarter life choices than he did growing up. “Probably why I tell the kids to put the guns down, Gansta, but I still cry when nobody around, Tryna numb the pain, drinkin’ bottles ‘til I drown, Never do no suicide, But I’d be lyin’ if I said it hadn’t crossed my mind,” Savage raps on “dark days”.
Savage’s sound continues to be innovated throughout the tracklist with catchy verses over a late-night drive production style that can be heard on the song “see the real” and “n.h.i.e” featuring one of Doja Cat’s best verses in a while where she comedically uses the word adlib as her adlibs.
Although many songs include features, 21 Savage impressed me with his ability to perfectly co-exist with an array of different artists on American Dream while not being outshined. For instance, Burna Boy performs a vocally impressive and warm chorus while 21 Savage delivers solid verses that contain lover boy lyrics on the song “just like me.” Songs like “prove it” featuring Summer Walker and “should’ve wore a bonnet” featuring Brent Faiyaz are some of the best songs on American Dream as 21 Savage takes a similar artistic approach as he did on his 2022 collaboration album with Drake Her Loss and talks about his passionate feelings for a significant lover with top tier R&B artists. “When I’m with you, it’s a safe space, Baby you bringing me peace, You know how it go in the streets, Ain’t none of it shallow, it’s deep,” Savage raps on “prove it”.
However, there are times where 21 Savage’s collaboration efforts don’t succeed. For example, “red sky” sounds generic and is a song that tries too hard to be used for a car commercial or a hype song before an NFL game begins on television. Also, the song “pop ur shit” featuring Young Thug lacks energy and contains some lazy writing. “It smell like gas, I think somebody pooped” 21 raps on what could be one of his worst-ever bars in the chorus of “pop ur shit”.
Overall, American Dream contains some of 21 Savage’s lowest lows when it comes to releasing generic-sounding songs that seem thrown together and have lazy structure but also includes some of the rapper’s highest heights when it comes to the growth and development of his storytelling abilities. The monotone gangster rapper we heard back in 2016 has now accomplished what he and his mother have always dreamed of when starting a new life in the United States.
Rating: 8/10
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