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Photo by Vickey Ford (Sneakshot) for Okayplayer
Photo by Vickey Ford (Sneakshot) for Okayplayer
"I been shot — what is a meme? A meme is nothing," the Atlanta rapper said.
Following a recent interview with Good Morning America, 21 Savage has now spoken with the New York Times about being detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), missing out on the Grammys, the memes made about his British citizenship and living in the United States as an undocumented immigrant.
READ: "We Got Savage": 21 Savage Breaks Silence On Being "Targeted" During ICE Arrest
During the interview, Savage recalled growing up on the poor side of London and how when he first moved to the U.S. everything was bigger.
"...when we first moved here, we was living in the hood still, but it was, like, way bigger," he said. "The toilet size, the bathroom size, it was just different. But I fell in love with it."
Savage then discussed fighting kids who made fun of his British accent during his first day of school, as well as the challenges of growing up as an undocumented immigrant, ranging from not being able to get a job to his family not being able to get government assistance.
"It got to the point where I just learned to live without it," the rapper said. "...It made me who I am. I wouldn't write it no other way if I had the choice."
Elsewhere, Savage discussed his ICE detainment and how the possibility of him being deported was his biggest concern.
"All that just going through your head, like, 'Damn, I love my house, I ain’t gonna be able to go in my house no more? I ain’t gonna be able to go to my favorite restaurant that I been going to for 20 years straight?' That’s the most important thing," he said. "If you tell me, 'I’ll give you 20 million to go stay somewhere you ain’t never stayed,' I’d rather be broke. I’ll sit in jail to fight to live where I’ve been living my whole life."
As for missing out on the Grammys, Savage explained that he felt like he was there because of Post Malone. Malone, whose song "Rockstar" features the Atlanta rapper, wore a t-shirt with Savage's name on it.
"I don’t care what nobody say — everybody in that building who’s connected to this culture, I was on their mind in some type of way," he added.
Savage also spoke on the memes making fun of his British citizenship, saying that he even found some of them funny but wasn't really concerned over them.
"I done been through way worse things in my life than somebody putting me on a meme," he said. "I been shot — what is a meme? A meme is nothing."
Read the interview in its entirety here.
Source: New York Times
