A Review of 21 Savage's "i am > i was"
Atlanta rapper 21 Savage looks to build of a run of great features starting after the release of his debut album “Issa Album” with the release of his 2018 album “i am > i was.” 21 Savage’s most notable features from that point, include Post Malone’s “Rockstar,” and Cardi B’s “Bartier Cardi.”It should also be noted that Young Savage put out a collab project with Offset of the Migos and Metro Boomin titled “Without Warning,” on Halloween of 2017 which was met with great reviews. Now looking at 21 Savage’s “i am > i was,”21 Savage hadn’t put out an official single for the album, however he appeared on three songs off Metro Boomin’s 2018 album “NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES” on the songs “Don’t Come Out The House” where he notably introduced a whisper cadence, “10 Freaky Girls” where he showed some flows foreign to the typical 21 Savage song, and “No More” with Travis Scott and Kodak Black where he showed off some wordplay and lyricism. Savage’s presence on Young Metro’s album definitely contributes to the hype that has been built for “i am> i was.” With that being said, let’s take a look at the track list! “i am > i was” is made of sixteen songs equivalent to a total of 55 minutes of new music! The features are not listed on the track list; however, it should be noted that the deluxe version of the album (the version which is being reviewed) has another version of a song added at the end with a Travis Scott feature so there will be features on this album. Super excited to get into this album, so without further ado, let’s get to the review!
Categories
The songs on this album divided into five lanes that are prevalent throughout the project
Songs with features
“a lot” (ft. J. Cole), “a&t” (ft. Yung Miami), “1.5” (ft. Offset), “all my friends” (ft. Post Malone), “can’t leave without it” (ft. Gunna & Lil Baby), “good day” (ft. BEAM, Project Pat & ScHoolboy Q), “monster” (ft. Childish Gambino), “4L” (ft. Young Nudy) & “out for the night, pt.2” (ft. Travis Scott)
Soulful
“a lot,” “1.5," “monster," “letter to my momma”
These songs have aspects that wouldn’t have been expected of Savage prior to the release of this album. These songs diverge from the typical Savage song that has a dark vibe over it, while some lyrics on these songs can still be dark, the beats on these songs aren’t. The lyrics on some these songs give us a look into what Savage thinks when he looks back at his life and analyzes his life now.
Dark 21 Savage
“break da law," “gun smoke,” , can’t leave without it," “asmr," “good day," “pad lock,", “4L”
The typical 21 Savage song similar to songs found on 21 Savage’s “Savage Mode,” the mixtape that Savage made with producer Metro Boomin that put Savage on the Hip-Hop community’s radar. The lyrics on some songs are threatening and the beats give a dark vibe that last throughout each song.
21 for the chicks
“a&t,” “out for the night", “ball w/o you," “out for the night, pt.2”
These songs are aimed at a female audience as 21 Savage discusses what he sees in the typical woman each song is about. These songs are also fast paced with the flows on display on the verses.
Melodic Savage
“all my friends”
This song is all about the melodies as we get 21 Savage using the same cadence, he used on Post Malone’s “rockstar.”
Must Listen Songs
The concept of Must Listen songs are the songs that would give the best overview of the album as a whole. Songs that standout for reasons to be described in the pending descriptions of the songs.
“a lot”
This intro track sets the tone for the album in every aspect. On this song we get a beat made by DJ Dahi, that can be described as soulful because of its sample of the song “I Love You” by East of Underground. The harmonizing on the beat with the added high hats and beat creates a beautiful beat that may be foreign to the typical 21 Savage song. On this song we also get 21 Savage’s perfectly executing a hook that could be describe as long, however the catchiness of it makes the hook infectious. On the third verse we get our first feature of the album with J. Cole giving us the story of how this song came about on an interlude before he gets into his verse addressing the 6ix9ine situation, Markelle Fultz and Dennis Smith Jr. This is a great start to the album and the J. Cole feature adds to the value of the song.
“all my friends”
Track 7 on 21 Savage’s “i am > i was” focuses on melody. The song starts off with the featured artist, Post Malone singing the hook before we get 21 Savage’s verse where he uses the same cadence found on his feature on Post Malone’s hit song “Rockstar.” The beat, engineered by Louis Bell is a simple one created with high hats, a soft violin and bass. This is a good song that shows the versatility 21 Savage has developed thus far.
“asmr”
“If Young Metro Don’t Trust You Imma Shoot You!” The ninth song brings me back to 21 Savage and Metro Boomin’s “Savage Mode” with its dark vibe with 21 Savage’s lyrics and the bass heavy, and faint melodic beat. Adding to the dark vibe of this song, 21 Savage uses his whispering cadence he used on Metro Boomin’s “Don’t Come Out The House” on the hook. This cadence works well with the lyrical content in the verses.
“ball w/o you”
This song is the tenth song on this album and one of the four songs on this album directed at the females. However, on this song 21 Savage raps about his heart being broken and how he has changed since then. Savage also explains why he would rather have loyalty than love, rapping about love being a just a feeling and loyalty being the action where “you can love or hate me and still have my back.” These insightful lyrics about love and loyalty sound great over this soft piano, high hat and bass driven beat made by TM88 and BEAM.
“monster”
The thirteenth song on the album starts off with piano keys and children singing “power, the money and the fame make a monster.” This works to set the theme of the song as Childish Gambino raps about living fast in his first verse. I like the Childish Gambino feature on this song, because the beat, made by Dave Sava6e, Calvin Tarvin, Axl Folie and DJ Dahi, reminds me of some of the beats found on Childish Gambino albums such as “Camp” and “Because The Internet.” The tempo of the high hats, the techno melody in the background, the piano and the bass give the pop feel of Childish Gambino songs like, “Fire Fly,” “The Worst Guys” featuring Chance The Rapper, and “Life: The Biggest Troll [Andrew Auernheimer]. 21 Savage perfectly executes his verse his verse as he raps about what got him to where he is today. Hearing Savage on a beat that doesn’t really scream his name shows his growth in his short time of being a Hip-Hop artist.
“out for the night, pt.2”
This song is the last song on the album. This song can be looked at as a sort of remix to the fourth song of the album titled “out for the night.” The only difference between the two is that on part 2, the song has a Travis Scott verse which comes after the original Savage verses. The beat made by Dave Sava6e, Calvin Tarvin, Axl Folie & DJ Dahi, consists of a fast-paced high hat, with a heavy bass. The second Savage verse of this verse gives me a vibe similar to the Drake hit song “Nice For What,” where 21 Savage tries to relate to the female listener rapping about bills being due, not needing a man, etc… Savage executes his verses and hooks well. While the Travis Scott verse was a good one, it doesn’t do much to add to the song overall.
Final Review
This is a great album from 21 Savage, and definitely an upgrade from his first album “Issa Album” The mix between songs where Savage experimented and songs where Savage went back to the style that made him hot is perfect. The flows and beats on this album are more diverse, and a nice turn from the songs where 21 Savage has a dark vibe. The features on this album also gave good contributions to the album and were placed well throughout the album. Savage also relied less on Young Metro for beats and went to other producers for different sounds, and tempos which gave him more room to add more flows. 21 Savage also found a way to make the songs directed at women (which I typically hate listening to) still sound attractive to me as he didn’t deviate from the sounds he had on the album, he just changed the lyrical content. This is 21 Savage’s best album in my opinion and I look forward to how he tries to top this on his next album!
Scoring
Raw Score: The amount of good songs on a project versus the overall amount. Songs must have a +1 or above to be counted.
Quality Score: The total amount of points accumulated over the total amount of songs.
Playback value: The resonance an album is perceived to have if played again in full. Scale out of 5.
Raw Score:16/16
Quality Score:19.5/16
Playback Value:4/5
Go out and listen to 21 Savage’s “i am > i was” wherever you listen to your music. Also, don’t forget to check out OLDMLK’s Instagram page (@OLDMLK) for updates on Oldmlk Necessities: the most necessary review in Hip Hop Media, The OLDMLK.Com Playlist, The OLDMLK Radar and more!
