21 Savage, Grammy-nominated rapper who told of his tough upbringing in Atlanta, is actually British
A Grammy-nominated rapper who built up an image of being brought up surrounded by drugs and guns on the mean streets of Atlanta is actually British, it emerged after he was detained by US immigration officers.
Rapper 21 Savage, who has long said he is from the US state of Georgia, was detained on Sunday and officials say he is from the UK and overstayed his American visa.
The news sent shockwaves through social media as the Grammy-nominated 26-year-old rapper - whose real name is Sha Yaa Bin Abraham Joseph - says he is local act from Atlanta, the capital of hip hop.
The rapper's lawyer Dina LaPolt said: "We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with the authorities to clear up any misunderstandings."
In an interview with Fader magazine in 2016, he paints a picture of a crime-ridden upbringing in Georgia.
The article references Joseph being brought up in "beat up apartments" in Atlanta, being shown his first gun at the age of eight by his "Uncle Dae Dae" and the rapper bragging about being the youngest pupil ever to take a gun to Stone Mountain Middle School in DeKalb County, Georgia, when he was 11 or 12.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox told the local Atlanta Journal-Constitution outlet that 21 Savage is an "unlawfully present United Kingdom national" who entered the United States in 2005 on a visa that expired one year later.
In 2005, would have been 12 or 13, having been born on October 22, 1992 in Newham, according to reports.
The US agency also told the paper he had been arrested and later convicted for felony drug charges in 2014 - but at the time, the US Department of Homeland Security was unaware that he was in fact British.
According to the paper 21 Savage was arrested in a "targeted operation."
The artist, known for his conversational rap delivery and no-nonsense sincerity, released his debut studio album in 2017.
His lyrics touch on everything from drugs and violence to systemic racism and police brutality.
His album, "I Am > I Was" debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 in December 2018, holding the number one spot for two consecutive weeks.
The rapper is up next week for two Grammys for his work on fellow rapper Post Malone's smash hit "Rockstar," including for the major Record of the Year award.