What to Expect From 21 Savage's 'American Dream' Album & Movie

21 Savage’s new album, American Dream, looks like it’s about to be his Illmatic based on the baby photo cover. Find out more below. In other news today:

• Billboard Hot 100 📈 

• What to expect from 21 Savage’s new album & movie 🗡️ 

• This is why Playboi Carti allegedly postponed his Antagonist tour 🤫 

• Kid Cudi reveals stacked features & producers for INSANO album 🔥 

• Industry Insights 📈 

Billboard Hot 100

The above chart shows Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking for this week. The Hot 100 ranks songs based on streaming activity, radio airplay audience impressions, and sales data—all measured by Luminate.

Jack Harlow’s “Lovin On Me” returns to #1, and Doja Cat’s “Paint The Town Red” moves back into the Top 10 at #4. Drake and Nicki Minaj are side-by-side with “Rich Baby Daddy,” jumping from #52 to #16, and “FTCU” jumping from #53 to #17.

What to Expect From 21 Savage’s ‘American Dream’ Album & Movie

21 Savage has been trying to tell us about his American Dream for a minute.

His Rolling Stone cover was the offense play a coach shows during timeout, detailing his immigrant-to-rapper come-up. The American Flag billboard in Atlanta was the pass, setting up the shot for the two-point score of unveiling his third solo album and first feature film.

American Dream: The 21 Savage Story hits theatres on July 4th, but the album, American Dream, will be released in a matter of days on January 12.

Here’s what to expect from the most unseriously serious rapper as he takes on the American Dream in album and movie form.

American Dream: The Album

“Woah, bulletproof my cars / He a homebody, fuck it, kill him in his yard,” 21 raps in the movie’s trailer with his signature deadpan delivery. The murder bars and beat selection of the song suggest that 21 doesn’t stray far from what his fans love.

Metro Boomin told Rolling Stone that 21 worked on his solo album, Her Loss, and Heroes & Villains simultaneously. 21 tends to cook with the same ingredients and sous-chef (Metro Boomin). He knows how to repackage his style of rap without it becoming tiresome—swapping “glock” for “Draco” like a chef would sub red peppers for yellow. 

Case in point, he employs God as a defense for Satan and a metaphor for how trench hoes treat him post-success within the same eight bars of the trailer’s song.

The irony of taking 21’s gritty life story as an immigrant—being jailed by ICE after he made it, causing him to miss his first Grammy Award—and labeling it the American Dream suggests a Kat Williams-level of smoke on the album.

American Dream: The Movie

Caleb Mclaughlin stars as young Shéyaa Bin Abraham before he’s replaced by Donald Glover, who plays the adult Savage. The trailer unveiled Druski as the high school bully in Shéyaa’s villain arc and Bel-Air’s Jabari Banks as the young Metro Boomin that helps mold 21 Savage, the rapper.

Based on the trailer, his life story gets a Hollywood makeover, embellishing the truth for dramatic effect. “When I first got here, they didn’t even give me a name, just the number 21, treated us like savages,” Glover tells Young Metro in the studio, setting up the punchline for the origin of his rap name.

But in reality, “21” represents the 2100 Decatur gang Shéyaa was affiliated with in his youth, and “Savage” describes the life he lived to finance his early rap career. At least, that’s what he told Rolling Stone.

Other facts about 21 Savage’s life that may appear in the movie’s plot include:

• He spent nine days in jail during his ICE incarceration at one of the worst immigration detention centers in the U.S.

• He watched the 2019 Grammys from the detention center, missing his first win and scheduled performance with Post Malone.

• He’s lost three brothers, two blood, and one chosen family 

• He was shot and got into a car accident with his mom, on two separate birthdays

• He used to sit in the house on his birthday because he thought the day was cursed

Playboi Carti’s Tour Is Delayed Again, and This Is Allegedly Why

Consistency would be too much to expect from Playboi Carti. For almost every song he’s released, fueling hope that the album is actually on the way, there’s been a delay in his Antagonist tour.

All of the Antagonist dates were indefinitely rescheduled this week. This is the second delay to the North American leg since the tour was announced during the summer. But it may not be Carti holding things up. His Opium artists are also hitting the road, meaning Destroy Lonely, Ken Carson, and Homixide Gang must be available.

There’s a fan theory that Homixide Gang’s legal battle, stemming from a physical altercation with the rapper Summrs at BoxFest, is what’s blocking the green light. In November 2023, a video leaked of a brawl onstage during Summrs’ set, and concertgoers claimed to have seen Homixide Gang members rushing the stage.

Live Nation, the organizer of BoxFest, is allegedly part of the legal dispute, but no details have been confirmed, and as of now, it’s just a theory. Expect more updates to emerge when the dates are officially rescheduled.

Kid Cudi Reveals Stacked Feature & Producer List for ‘INSANO’ Album

When Kid Cudi said, “I have not hit my creative peak yet. Wild,” the eyes in the comments immediately started rolling, pointing to the early 2010s as his peak. But then he dropped the tracklist and features for his upcoming INSANO album, and a retraction might be in order.

A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott, XXXTentacion, Young Thug, Lil Yachty, and Lil Wayne features? BYNX, Pharrell, sadpony, WondaGurl, Clams Casino, and Take a Daytrip production? 2024 Kid Cudi, I was not familiar with your game.

Slated for a Jan 12 release, INSANO may be Cudi’s a Gift & a Curse, beating the washed allegations that have plagued him since 2018’s KIDS SEE GHOSTS. There is the hurdle of 21 Savage’s new album being released the same day, but the stylistic differences between them will likely appeal to different subsets of rap fans.

The 21-track project includes the previously released “Porsche Topless” and “At The Party” with Travis Scott and Pharrell—but that’s not Scott’s only feature. He appears on the unreleased track “Get Off Me” as well.

Cudi curated the album’s tracklist as a listening experience, telling fans to listen to it in order without skips and teasing a deluxe edition with more possible surprises to come.

• Play along to Lil Yachty’s collab with Faye Webster on the song’s Guitar-Hero-esque game. Unveiled as part of the rollout, users are scored as they tap along to the instrumental.

• Jay-Z earns second Super Bowl-related Emmy Award for directing Rihanna’s halftime show. He’s been the NFL’s live music entertainment strategist since 2019.

• Tyler, the Creator, and Doja Cat are rumored to headline Coachella 2024. Travis Scott was also named a headline contender, but nothing’s confirmed until the lineup is officially released.

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