21 Savage

Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (born October 22, 1992), better known by his stage name 21 Savage, is a rapper, songwriter and record producer. He was born in London, England, and moved to Atlanta, Georgia when he was 7 years old. He became known in Atlanta for the 2015 mixtape The Slaughter Tape before attaining nationwide attention following an EP collaboration Savage Mode (2016) with the producer Metro Boomin and its popular singles "X" and "No Heart", as well as a guest feature on the 2016 Drake single "Sneakin'".

His debut studio album, Issa Album, was released on July 7, 2017. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and gave him his first Billboard Hot 100 top 20 song, "Bank Account". His first number one single came at the end of 2017 with his feature on Post Malone's "Rockstar", which was nominated in two categories at the 61st Grammy Awards. On October 31, 2017, he released the Offset and Metro Boomin collaboration Without Warning. In December 2018, he released his second album, I Am > I Was, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and stayed at number one for two consecutive weeks.

21 Savage was arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on February 3, 2019. Officials stated that he is a citizen of the United Kingdom who entered the U.S. in July 2005 and then unlawfully overstayed his visa when it expired in July 2006. He was granted bond on February 12 and released the next day, pending the outcome of an expedited deportation hearing. The hearing was initially scheduled for April 9, but was later postponed indefinitely.

21 Savage won the award for Best Rap Song for his song "A Lot" at the 2020 Grammy Awards, marking both 21 Savage and J Cole's first Grammy wins.

Early life
Shéyaa Bin Abraham was born on October 22, 1992, at Newham Hospital in Plaistow, London, England, to British-born parents Heather Carmillia Joseph and Kevin Cornelius Emmons, who are of Dominica and Haitian descent respectively. His twin sisters, dance choreographers Kyra and Jayda Davis, and father continue to live in London, with Emmons working for Westminster City Council. 21 Savage's grandmother lives in Brixton. 21 Savage's parents separated early in his life, and he moved with his mother to Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 7. In June 2005, at the age of 12, he went to the United Kingdom for the funeral of an uncle, stayed for a month and then returned to the United States on July 22, 2005, on an H-4 visa, which allegedly expired a year later. 21 Savage's mother then began a relationship with Dr. Amsu Anpu, an endocrinologist and British expatriate, with whom she had more children. He had a brother Quantivayus ("Tay-Man") who died in a shooting after an attempted drug deal.

In the seventh grade, 21 Savage was banned permanently from every school in DeKalb County School District for gun possession. This led him to begin attending schools around the Atlanta metropolitan area before being sent to a youth detention center. After being released from the youth detention center, he completed eighth grade through an alternative program before finishing a semester of high school; he dropped out in his freshman year following multiple exclusions that he said "exhausted" him.

After dropping out, 21 Savage joined a local street gang affiliated with the wider Bloods street gang and became a full-time drug dealer, mainly selling cannabis.[35] He also regularly took part in other criminal activities including robbery and car theft, although he was only arrested once after contraband was found in a car he was driving. In 2011, when 21 Savage was 19, he lost his "right hand" man, Larry, in a shootout. In 2013, during an attempted robbery on his 21st birthday, 21 Savage was shot six times by rival gang members and his best friend Johnny was killed. It was because of this death that 21 Savage started rapping.

Controversy
In 2018, 21 Savage reportedly started a movement called "Guns Down, Paintballs Up" which was intended to reduce gun violence by suggesting the use of paintball guns instead of lethal firarms. The head of the Detroit Police Department, James Craig, described the movement as "well-intentioned, however, misguided", after several incidents involving paintball guns later resulted in injuries, disorderly conduct involving large groups of people with paintball guns, property vandalism (e.g., of police vehicles), violent reprisals, and the mistaking of paintball guns for firearms. The movement has been linked to several cases of property crime and homicide. 21 Savage has not commented on the matter, although he paid for the funeral of a 3-year-old who was killed in a related incident.

Controversy arose after 21 Savage pulled out a firearm during a pool party on June 10, 2018. 21 Savage had been given the firearm by a friend after seeing an opposing crew member also pull out a pistol.

"ASMR", a song from 21 Savage's second studio album I Am > I Was, caused some controversy with its lyrics. The lyrics included "We been gettin' that Jewish money, everything is kosher." The lyrics came under fire for perpetuating negative Jewish stereotypes when LeBron James shared an Instagram story quoting the track. 21 Savage later apologized, saying on Twitter that "The Jewish people I know are very wise with there [sic] money so that's why I said we been gettin' Jewish money. I never thought anyone would take offense, I'm sorry if I offended everybody, never my intention – I love all people."

Arrest on immigration charges in 2019
On February 3, 2019, just two days after releasing the music video for his single "A Lot", 21 Savage was taken into custody by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after a vehicle was pulled over that contained him and his cousin, the rapper known as Young Nudy, and two other men. Young Nudy and the two other men had been targeted in an operation involving charges of aggravated assault and violation of the Georgia Gang Act. 21 Savage later alleged that he was personally also targeted in the operation. After his arrest, ICE revealed that 21 Savage is a British national who has been in the United States unlawfully since his non-immigrant visa expired in July 2006. 21 Savage's management team expresses he has been trying to get his Visa renewed since the year 2017. Before this, 21 Savage had commonly been believed to be a native of the Atlanta area – e.g., Interview magazine had reported in an interview with Seth Rogen in April 2018 that the rapper's birthplace was Atlanta, Georgia, and in a 2016 interview with XXL Magazine, he said he was "from Decatur, Georgia" (which is in the Atlanta metropolitan area).

A spokesperson for ICE said of 21 Savage, "His whole public persona is false. He actually came to the U.S. from the U.K. as a teen and overstayed his visa". A birth certificate then surfaced showing that 21 Savage was born in Newham, London, on October 22, 1992. This indicates that he had been 12 years old in July 2005 – not "a teen" (and he had also been in the U.S. from the age of 7 until his one-month departure in 2005). His attorney acknowledged that 21 Savage had overstayed the expired visa, but said that he had not attempted to hide his background, and said that the Department of Homeland Security had been aware that in 2017 he had applied for a U visa – a type of non-immigrant visa offered to crime victims and their family members who are willing to assist law enforcement officials in the investigation or prosecution of the criminal activity.

21 Savage has been released from ICE's custody, however, his case is still pending. He is allowed to move around the US, but cannot travel abroad.

Theft by deception charges in 2019
On February 15, 2019, 21 Savage turned himself in to authorities and was booked into a south Georgia jail in response to a warrant for his arrest for felony theft by deception. This dispute surrounds a gig arranged in 2016 for which the rapper allegedly accepted a payment of $17,000 to appear at a concert, but did not appear and did not give back the money. He was released on his own recognizance, pending a court hearing on a later date to resolve the charge.