21 Savage’s new album “American Dream” was a great quality album. It featured 12 other artists aside from himself; however, to me, these artists had little effect on the caliber of the album. 21 Savage carried his weight on “American Dream,” and he didn’t have to rely on others’ performance.
Ultimately the best thing I found in his songs was the background music. Each song had a terrific sound to go along with his rapping. A similar theme I noticed with all of these songs was they all had a musical build-up until the rapping started. I liked this aspect, as it helped with the transition from song to song, and it eased the listener into each one. It really helps to emphasize the details.
My favorite song, which is also the most popular off the album, is “Redrum”. As I mentioned before, each song had a great buildup; however, this one, in particular, also included two more great stages. It began with a very low, vintage sound. If this were the main element of the song I would’ve skipped it; however, after this slow start, 21 Savage brought in the main tune. It had a nice harmonization on top of a sound you have never heard before and a steady beat. This part thankfully played the rest of the song behind the actual rapping bit and its melody had a huge hand in the song’s success.
I believe an often overlooked aspect of an album’s success is the cover. It has a super edgy look to it and is centered around 21 Savage’s life as a young kid. Around his face, there is a lot of passport information: Name, passport number, visa, etc. 21 Savage was born in London, and the album’s name and cover are supposed to symbolize his “American Dream”.
21 Savage is an artist who doesn’t need another artist with him to blow up, his top two most popular songs before this album were both solos. “Redrum” is already making a name for itself, and it could eventually be one of 21 Savage’s top songs. Five out of the 14 songs in the album do not have features, and two of those five were the most popular. This shows that 21 Savage does better alone, and the other artists often featured in his songs might actually pull him down at times.
“American Dream” was great. He produced a good quality album with a few great songs instead of many lackluster ones. The only thing I think he has to work on is the variety of his singing. Sure your voice is your voice, but he sounded identical in each song, which was disappointing.
I think this album can have a solid impact on 21 Savage’s popularity. Aside from his album with Drake, “Rich Flex”, 21 Savage hadn’t released an album in over a year. While his fans might have been disappointed waiting such a long time for a new album, “American Dream” definitely lives up to his followers’ expectations.
