Rapper and songwriter 21 Savage released his third solo studio album, “american aream,” on Jan. 12, which can be streamed on all streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music. The album contains features from Doja Cat, Young Thug, Metro Boomin, Lil Durk, Travis Scott, Summer Walker, Brent Faiyaz, Burna Boy, Mikky Ekko, Tommy Newport and Mariah the Scientist.
Prior to this, on Jan. 7, 21 Savage posted the teaser trailer for an upcoming movie about his life to social media. The movie, which is called “American Dream: The 21 Savage Story,” stars actors Donald Glover and Caleb Mclaughlin. Yet, as excited as fans were for the 21 Savage movie, he had more plans in store for them. On Jan. 8, 21 Savage announced his album’s release date by posting, “American Dream the Album Friday!” on all of his social media platforms.
“As much as I am excited with the album’s release, the movie might make me more excited, although I wonder how Donald Glover can play 21 Savage,” junior Jaden Zadanowski.
21 Savage is known for his aggressive and hard lyrics. He is also recognized as a terrific feature artist, as he is known for his many albums collabs and popular features. Even though his previous solo albums, like “Issa Album” and “i am > i was” were great, 21 Savage still believes that he has much more to prove. He has expressed that he wants to be known for his music, not his features on the songs of others.
Track one on the album, “american dream,” began with 21 Savage’s mother talking about how she did everything she could to give her son better opportunities than she had. It was quickly understood that 21 Savage was creating a personal and vulnerable album for his listeners.
Track three, “redrum,” sets the album in another direction, starting with a smooth and slow sample called “Serenata do Adeus” by Elza Laranjeira, before moving into a hard and vicious beat. 21 Savage shows his dominance on this track by rapping his best lyrics and showing tons of energy.
21 Savage continues to show aggression throughout the album with songs like “sneaky” and “dangerous.” This album proved that even after all of 21 Savage’s years of making music, he can still produce great, hardcore and thrilling songs. Nothing is better for a listener than jumping into an album with tons of emotions and aggression, which 21 Savage capitalizes on.
The album keeps up with the hardcore attitude and beats with “dangerous” and “née-nah,” which feature Lil Durk and Metro Boomin, as well as Travis Scott and Metro Boomin, respectively. Both songs turned out special due to the immense talent of the artists featured. Durk and Scott, undoubtedly, have the best two features on the album.
“My favorite feature on the album was Travis Scott because he delivered the best verse of 2024 so far,” junior Michael Cacace said.
Still, another key feature on this album was Metro Boomin’s, which was amazing because of how greatly his beats stood out. The features reminded listeners of the iconic dynamic that Metro Boomin and 21 Savage have, and brought back memories of their many previous songs together.
Ironically, the album takes a gentler turn as well, mainly due to 21 Savage’s collaborations with the other artists he featured. Singer and songwriter Summer Walker delivers a great performance on “prove it,” where the listener can find a chill vibe from both Summer and 21 Savage.
21 Savage ends the album by showing both of the emotions that he is capable of expressing, with the second to last song being “red sky,” which gives off the hostile and angry 21 Savage that listeners have heard throughout the album. Then, the last song, “dark days,” gives listeners a more personal and soft vibe to bring the album to a close.
Overall, the album was very enjoyable and is one that any fan of 21 Savage would appreciate. The album has an aggressive, yet chill vibe throughout, that many listeners will be able to connect to, proving 21 Savage’s ability to be a solo artist.
