21 Savage - Issa Album

21 Savage
Issa Album
2017
Spotify

21 Savage is desperate to let you know He is successful. "Bank Account" the second track on the album is about exactly what you think it's about; just how much money 21 Savage has. At points he just resorts to counting and repeating himself over and over on this track leaving the song feeling so long and so fucking boring. However the beat, oh man the beat is so great and provides these little pockets for 21 Savage to dip into and play. You will hear a lot of Future in this album, but not in the way Desiigner sounds like Future, more in the sense of delivery and pacing. 21 Savage who has worked with Future in the past emulates his style, laid back, repetitive closer to R&B than straight up rap. It is a style that can lull you into a trance especially when paired with a stellar Metro Boomin beat like on "Close My Eyes". The major issue throughout the album is that 21 Savage just has nothing to say. The gang banging, the partying and the obsession with success all feel so false, or surface level to the point of not being interesting. 21 Savage sounds pretty good, thanks in large part to his producers I'm sure, but he says absolutely zero. He doesn't have the ability to tease out really nuanced emotions so his songs end up being about what is right in front of him. On previous releases 21 Savage embraced the villain, and kept up this horror theme to his stuff, but all that seems to all but evaporated.

There are times where his style does seep through into something like on "Baby Girl" where he does drop some pretty interesting lines. "Thug Life" is also a highlight, and actually one of the songs where it feels like 21 Savage is not just sleepwalking. Yet again the song is over four and a half minutes long lessening the punch it may have had. Issa Album also has no features forcing Savage to carry the whole thing, something HE just does not have the ability to do yet. "Nothin New" tries to be his politically charged track with lyrics like "anotha n***a made the news, ain't nothin new" but He makes no conclusions or tries to explore the issue at all, instead He feels content just to mention that there might be a problem with racism in our society, shocking right? It really does show that sometimes you can have a look, the youth and some of what it takes to make it in hip hop, but if you don't have that substance it is nearly impossible to make that massive impact. There is a ton of promise in Savage, but Issa Album needed to have him invest a hell of a lot more to really be a hit. As it is, play the beats and cut out Savage and you might have something.

5.5 out of 10