{"id":791514,"date":"2018-12-21T13:24:51","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T20:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=772024"},"modified":"2018-12-21T13:24:51","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T20:24:51","slug":"21-savage-called-in-literally-every-favor-he-could-on-i-am-i-was","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/21-savage-called-in-literally-every-favor-he-could-on-i-am-i-was\/","title":{"rendered":"21 Savage Called in Literally Every Favor He Could on \u2018i am > i was\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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21 Savage<\/a> is getting better. It\u2019s right there, in in the title of his new album:\u00a0i am > i was<\/em>. The sentiment subsumes his verses and runs over his punchlines. Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph is wealthier, funnier and more famous than he\u2019s ever been. If he\u2019s not one of the best lyricists in hip-hop already, with every release he\u2019s inching closer to that reality.<\/p>\n

Savage emerged from Atlanta with a deadpan delivery that belied the ultraviolent menace and hyper-realistic storytelling in his lyrics. There were memes \u2014 \u201cIssa knife\u201d \u2014 that seemed willed into existence to add a semblance of levity to what was an all killer, no filler approach to rapping. Just a few short years later, it\u2019s clear that 21 was always in on the joke.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what makes the greater than sign sitting in the middle of his album feels like it\u2019s weighing the project down. The actual title of 21 Savage\u2019s new album could be, i am\u00a0\u2265 i was<\/em>. For 51 minutes, his latest project compresses the most commercially viable, artistically ambitious and viral moments of Savage\u2019s 2018 into an easily digestible package, but it doesn\u2019t always maximize Savage\u2019s strengths.<\/p>\n

i am > i was<\/em> unfolds like a study guide for new listeners, more used to hearing Savage as a featured element of a track instead of its lead artist. \u201cAll my friends\u201d is the spiritual successor to Post Malone and 21\u2019s 7x platinum, \u201crockstar.\u201d<\/a> The elusive and enigmatic Childish Gambino delivers a glorious verse on \u201cMonster\u201d and thus returns the favor for Savage lending his adlibs to \u201cThis Is America.\u201d Yung Miami of City Girls carries \u201ca&t\u201d to such an extent it feels like a quick, albeit awkward gamut to stumble upon a new \u201cIn My Feelings.\u201d The drawback of this method is that, at pivotal moments, 21 can feel like a featured artist on his own project. Take\u00a0 the intro track \u201ca lot.\u201d Over a sample of the The Fuzz\u2019s 1971 song \u201cI Love You For All Seasons,\u201d J. Cole decides to show more dexterity, passion and wit than he displayed on the entirety of his own\u00a0KOD\u00a0<\/em>earlier this year. His voice is at home over the dusty sample, waxing philosophical about the mysterious \u201cthey\u201d that \u201cfucked up\u201d Markelle Fultz\u2019s shot and sends condescending, but probably much-needed prayers to the recently incarcerated 6ix9ine.<\/p>\n