It wasn’t immediately evident that 21 Savage would be a mainstream superstar. Eventually, through enough steady hits and a smash collaboration with J. Cole, he would earn his spot amongst hip-hop’s A-list. But back in 2016, people made fun of his stoic demeanor. They put him alongside every other “mumble rapper” at the time when they saw him gracing the cover of the 2016 XXL Freshman cover.
Those who really listened to Savage Mode at the time knew how special a rapper 21 was. On this day 10 years ago, he released his breakout EP alongside Metro Boomin, a minimally produced album that made way for 21 Savage’s simple but bone-chilling raps. Take its big hit “No Heart”, where 21 Savage makes Dr. Seuss references but reminds us he is not just a rapper. When other kids were on football fields or playing Nintendo, he was acutely familiar with guns.
“P***y n***as love sneak dissin’/’Til I pull up on ’em, slap ’em out with the fire/Wet your mama’s house, wet your grandma’s house/Keep shootin’ until somebody die,” he snarls. Meanwhile, Metro’s beat rings like a watchtower signaling doom is impending, and death’s scythe isn’t far behind.
21 Savage and Metro Boomin released ‘Savage Mode’ 10 Years Ago Today
Critics marveled at the interplay between 21’s dry, violent rapping and Metro’s choice to favor cold, sparse production. In a list of the St. Louis producers’ best beats, writer Paul Thompson calls Savage Mode “a minor masterpiece in sound design.” “For as merciless as 21 Savage’s writing can be, the album borders on ambient, lulling the listener into a false sense of security time and time again,” he wrote for Complex.
Pitchfork gave it a 7.0, with journalist Israel Daramola declaring it the best work 21 Savage ever made, marveling at how sleek but brooding the record is. “His matter-of-fact delivery and unchanging cadence feels like the product of a hardened soul, and a desire to prove to be more terrifying than what lurks around you,” he said. “A Superman complex that says if you’re not the hunter, you’re the hunted.”
By the end of 2016, Rolling Stone declared it one of the best projects of the year, indulging in the project’s general darkness. “‘Nihilistic’ is an easy worldview to assign to hip-hop music that sees little hope in the world or in one’s circumstances, but few artists reach Savage’s level of joylessness,” the publication shared.
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