Stream 21 Savage & Metro Boomin’s Fun, Menacing New Album Savage Mode II, Narrated By Morgan Freeman
Four years ago, Atlanta rap star 21 Savage made his name when he teamed up with producer Metro Boomin for the Savage Mode EP. That EP was tingly and eerie and raw, and it presented Savage as a hissing wraith, a figure of cold and remorseless violence. Since then, Savage has emerged as a character with more dimensions than that, but he’s brought back some of than initial menace on the new sequel Savage Mode II.
Savage and Metro Boomin just announced the collaborative album Savage Mode II earlier this week, and they did it in grand and ridiculous fashion, with a trailer narrated by Morgan Freeman. They also shared the beautiful and ridiculous album cover, an homage to the gorgeously garish Pen & Pixel art of the late ’90s. (The knife has a diamond handle, and it has bullet holes in it! And it’s bleeding!) They didn’t share any early singles. They didn’t have to. Savage Mode II is already out.
As it turns out, Morgan Freeman narrates the entire album, and his lesson on the difference between a snitch and a rat is good shit. The album also features appearances from Drake (who claims that he “used to date SZA back in ’08,” which is news to me), Young Thug, and Savage’s cousin Young Nudy, who was with Savage last year when both where arrested. (This was when Savage was arrested by ICE and threatened with deportation.) One song samples 50 Cent’s “Many Many”; another adapts the classically hard beat from Rodney O and Joe Cooley’s ’80s rap oldie “Everlasting Bass.” On first listen, the album walks the line between streaming-friendly pop appeal and the bleak majesty of the original Savage Mode. This album should make a great soundtrack for a weird Halloween. Stream it below.
Savage Mode II is out now on Slaughter Gang, LLC/Epic/Boominati Worldwide/Republic Records.