‘This is The O21!’ 21 Savage yells, closing his marathon two-hour set against a waterfall of cascading fireworks, combining his name with the venue he’s staking a claim to… close enough! His stoic exterior has dropped to reveal genuine elation for a homecoming that’s been a decade in the making; to mark the occasion, his fans are sporting tees emblazoned with the words ‘legal citizen’.
31-year-old Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph is now a stalwart in the Atlanta rap scene, but was born in London before moving to the US at age seven. In 2019, his undocumented status meant he was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and threatened with deportation. After a lengthy legal battle, Savage was declared a ‘lawful permanent resident’ in October – hence the merch.
Tonight (November 30) Savage is finishing a victory lap around the country. He’s performing for the first time in London with a whopping 33 song setlist, split loosely into three sections. For added extravagance, he enlists J Hus, Central Cee and Popcaan to do minute-long performances of their biggest songs.
Savage’s hypnotic flow and ominous instrumentals make him particularly captivating on records, though this doesn’t necessarily translate to his live performances. He’s practically shouting throughout the set, more like a traditional MC than the breathy wordsmith we’re used to: the whispering verse on ‘Don’t Come Out The House’ is delivered, strikingly, at full volume.
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 30: 21 Savage performs his first ever London headline show at The O2 Arena on November 30, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Burak Cingi/Getty Images for Live Nation)
Nevertheless, he is a natural showman. His rapid delivery of guest features, like Nardo Wick’s ‘Who Want Smoke??’, gets a rapturous response despite being just 30 seconds long. The same goes for a crowd-pleasing stint on Post Malone’s ‘Rockstar’ and cult favourite ‘Peaches & Eggplants’, where the comical line of, “She got a tattoo right by her bikini that says, ‘Eat me’’’ gets joyously propelled off the walls by the 20,000-strong crowd.
While ‘ball w/o you’ and ‘Out For The Night’ showcase his prowess as a lyricist, the atmosphere in the crowd falls flat in the second act. To salvage it, a hat-trick of Hus, Cee and “Poppy” – as he referred to Popcaan – fire up energy levels for the closing act. Their appearances, combined with visuals of the capital and head-to-toe looks in local designer Mowalola, reinstate this idea of Savage being welcomed home with open arms.
Despite two chart-topping solo albums and a Grammy for Best Rap Song (‘A Lot’), it feels like he’s never quite been taken seriously. His issues with ICE were first seen as a joke – but look who’s laughing now. The closing song ‘Rich Flex’ has the crowd breaking into moshpits and screaming, “21, can you do somethin’ for me? / Can you hit a lil’ rich flex for me?’”. It’s so powerful he does it twice. Savage’s chance to perform in the UK has been robbed for so long that just to be here, celebrating his career thus far, feels like a deliciously anarchic triumph.
21 Savage played:
‘Runnin’
‘Glock in My Lap’
‘Don’t Come Out the House’
‘No Heart’
‘Who Want Smoke??’
‘Many Men’
‘Dip Dip’
‘Walk Em Down (Don’t Kill Civilians)’
‘EA’
‘Red Opps’
‘Broke Boys’
’10 Freaky Girls’
‘ball w/o You’
‘Ocean Drive’
‘out for the night’
‘Privileged Rappers’
‘Mr. Right Now’
‘Spin Bout U’
‘X’
‘Peaches & Eggplants’
‘a&t’
‘On BS’
‘TOPIA TWINS’
‘Creepin”
‘m y . l i f e’
‘a lot’
‘Rich N***a Shit’
‘rockstar’
‘Major Distribution’
‘Jimmy Cooks’
‘Knife Talk’
‘Bank Account’
‘Rich Flex’
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