21 Savage responds to critics who chastised him over his recent anti-gun message amid crime wave in Atlanta.
The rapper was called a hypocrite by fans after he called out folks in Atlanta for the growing crime and violence in the city. 21 Savage was, however, forced to defend his statement as many came after him and reminded him of his lyrics about guns and inflicting violence.
The rapper touched a nerve when he tweeted a message to the citizens of Atlanta. “Atlanta We Have To Do Better Put The F****** Guns Down!” the tweet read.
Atlanta We Have To Do Better
Put The F****** Guns Down !!!!!— Saint Laurent Don (@21savage) August 8, 2022
Many persons reacted to the rapper, including one who referenced his Billboard hit collaboration with Drake, “Jimmy Cooks.” The follower wrote, “Spin the block twice like there ain’t nowhere to park.”
21 Savage had a quick response saying, “A Song Is For Entertainment It’s Not An Instruction Manual On How To Live Life In Real Life I Give Away A Lot Of Money And Spread Financial Literacy To My Community Stop Trying To Make Me 1-Dimensional.”
The rapper continues to face backlash, and on Tuesday, he responded in a video released on Instagram where he defended his statement and said the violence in Atlanta is at an all-time drive.
“When I say something about how I really feel, like about Atlanta where I’m from it’s a lot of gun violence, killing and shootings going on and I ain’t never seen anything like this my whole life being in Atlanta, I ain’t never seen it,” the rapper began.
“Babies getting killed and that’s just sad and makes me depressed but when I speak up on that they say ‘oh you a hypocrite you this, you that’. I ain’t never promoted violence, I just rap about what I been through, what I heard about, what I saw, that’s not me promoting violence, that’s not me saying violence is cool,” the rapper said.
21 Savage added that he has been silent about the work he has been doing in the community as he tries to make a difference in his city.
21 Savage also said that the premise that rap music promotes violence is not true as the majority of people who listen to music with violent lyrics are not committing crimes.
“Everybody in the world ain’t killing each other, it’s a lot of killing going on but it’s not the whole world…a lot of people listen to my music, so the small percentage of people that’s killing, and all this sh*t y’all saying, why ain’t the other 98% that’s listening to my music killing each other if it’s my music, that’s what I want to know.”
