On Jan. 12, 2024, music artist 21 Savage released an album titled “american dream”. The album features 15 songs; songs that feature collaborations with other well-known music artists such as Doja Cat, Young Thug, Metro Boomin, Lil Durk, Travis Scott, Summer Walker, Brent Faiyaz, Burna Boy, Tommy Newport, Mikky Ekko and Mariah the Scientist. The “american dream” album is the third studio album that 21 Savage has released. Even though the album was released only a few weeks ago, it has already achieved some great accomplishments like spending 2 weeks on top Billboard 200.
Track 1: american dream
Starting off, “american dream” is more of an intro to the album than an actual song. The person talking seems to be 21 Savage’s mother talking about the goals she had as a mother to help her son achieve all his goals in life. While it was not a song, there are instrumentals in the background that make the track seem very important and lead the album down a road that can only get better.
Track 2: all of me
Moving on, “all of me” follows the first track and is the first real song on the album and gives a strong start to the album. I enjoyed the song and felt that it had good meaning. I am a big fan of the style of music 21 Savage makes even though I am not a big fan of the rap genre.
Track 3: redrum
The beginning of “redrum” is the reason why it is my favorite song on the album. The song is very different from other songs on the album when it comes to the beats and background vocals; they give off more of a spooky vibe.
Track 4: n.h.i.e
When first hearing track 4, it reminded me a lot of some of 21 Savage’s older music, which is something I appreciated because it’s nice to hear artists go back to some of their older styles. However, I felt that Doja Cat’s verse on the album was unnecessary and did not add a lot to the track; it could have been left out.
Track 5: sneaky
The first verse in the song is a strong start and gives you a peek into what the songs are like. The song reminds me of something you would listen to while tip-toeing around with a modern twist on it.
Track 6: pop ur sh*t
While this song had a lot of features on it, I felt that it was too slow for the album and not very tasteful compared to the other tracks. I tried to find something I liked about this song but struggled the whole 3 minutes and 13 seconds to enjoy it.
Track 7: letter to my brudda
This track has more of a throwback sound to the beat and background vocals which was an interesting take on the song. I felt like the lyrics didn’t fit the song until I started to realize that it seems that 21 Savage is rather singing the song like he is reading a letter rather than just singing. I like the cleverness of the song title fitting into the style of how he sings it.
Track 8: dangerous
Hearing this song was interesting. I enjoyed 21 Savage’s lyrics but was not a big fan of Lil Durk’s part in the song. I feel I would have enjoyed the song much more if Lil Durk had been left off the song so that I could have enjoyed 21 Savage more. This song made me realize that this album is about 21 Savage growing up in America and how he has found it dangerous.
Track 9:nee-nah
The start of track 9 is very slow and has Travis Scott opening the song with a few verses. Scott seems to be offbeat until the beat of the song drops and goes through the rest of the song being on and offbeat. Once again, 21 Savage would have had a better song if it was just him on the track rather than featuring Scott.
Track 10: see the real
Right from the start of the song, I could not get into the beat of it, so I knew this would be a hard song to enjoy. I felt that even though there were other slow songs on the album, this one seemed too slow and misplaced. It seems as though the song was so slow that he was singing some parts rather than rapping them.
Track 11: prove it
This again was another song I felt was too slow for the album. Even though this song was slow, I liked some of the lyrics from both 21 Savage and Summer Walker. I enjoyed the verse in the song “When I’m with you it’s a safe safe, Baby you’re bringin’ me peace.” But unfortunately, that’s all I could enjoy.
Track 12: should’ve wore a bonnet
This was one of the better songs on the album. I feel like this feature was very good and fitting for both 21 Savage and Brent Faiyaz but I don’t think that the song fits on the album. The song felt like it would have been better as a single.
Track 13: just like me
This song was the hardest song to listen to on the album. I was not a fan of the song itself let alone the vocals or instrumentals. Burna Boy felt like a weird feature to have on this song because his voice seemed out of place compared to 21 Savages. Track 13 was a hard song to listen to.
Track 14: red sky
This song was much more upbeat than others but still, I feel it is just like other songs with features on it. The song would be much better if Tommy Newport and Mikky Ekko had been left off of the track. It does not fit the vibe of the album at all.
Track 15: dark days
When going into each album I listen to, I always have high expectations for the last track on the album and I think that this is an album that met that expectation of saving the best song for last. I liked the lyrics of this song and felt that both 21 Savage and Mariah The Scientist did a great job of summing up what the American dream is to both of them while also telling about their experiences.
As I listened to each track on the album, I had different opinions for each. I felt that some songs were very well written with great features and refined beats. There were also some tracks I felt could have been left off of the album and might have fit better on other 21 Savage albums or could have been saved for an upcoming album. There were also times I felt that there were artists who should not have been featured on the album multiple times. Overall I would give the album a 5/10 because, in my opinion, there should have been fewer slow songs and features and more of just 21 Savage rapping about his experience of the American dream.
