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21 Savage Plays to His Strengths With Deadpan Wit on ‘American Dream’: Album Review
On his third solo album 'American Dream,' 21 Savage delivers more of his signature wit and versaility on a project that plays to his strenghts.
Through rose-colored glasses, the artists, producers and executives who find success in hip-hop often embody a by-the-bootstraps ethos, but it tends to be the result of lifelong efforts to grapple with and overcome a darker subtext of systemic oppression and cultural adversity. In smaller doses, 21 mostly presents as the bad guy, like on breakout project Savage Mode, the Halloween collaboration Without Warning, or choice features like “Don’t Come Out the House.” He moves across beats like Michael Myers, never sprinting yet catching up to inflict grisly violence. Savage has one of the best ears for beats in modern hip-hop, and his noted chemistry with Metro Boomin is present on standout cuts like “Pop Ur Shit” and “Dangerous” (even though the former’s Young Thug guest verse sounds hastily censored in a way that disrupts its rhythm).
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