Atlanta rapper 21 Savage was briefly detained on drug and weapons charges this week after warrants were issued for his arrest in DeKalb County.
The Grammy Award-winning musician, whose real name is Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, turned himself in to authorities at the DeKalb jail Thursday evening and was released 12 minutes later, online records show. The rapper’s latest arrest was first reported by Buzzfeed News and confirmed Saturday to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution by Atlanta attorney Charles Kuck, who is representing Abraham-Joseph in his ongoing immigration proceedings.
21 Savage was born in England, but moved to the Atlanta area with his mother when he was 7 years old, the AJC previously reported. He made national headlines in early 2019 when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested the rapper on Super Bowl Sunday, claiming he was actually British and that he had overstayed his visa.
Reached by phone Saturday afternoon, Kuck told the AJC that the latest charges stem from his client’s previous immigration arrest.
“These manufactured charges are yet another example of how our justice system, from ICE down to the local level, unjustly targets young Black men who seek to exercise their rights,” he said in a statement. “There is no legitimate basis for these charges nor for ICE’s continued antics, and we will fight until Mr. Joseph is justly vindicated.”
Arrest warrants obtained by the AJC confirm reports that the charges are the result of the February 2019 traffic stop that preceded his ICE arrest. Abraham-Joseph is accused of throwing out a bottle containing liquid that later tested positive for codeine, and a handgun was found inside the car, warrants allege. Kuck said he believes Thursday’s arrest was made at the request of ICE officials, calling them “trumped-up charges.”
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
An ICE spokesman didn’t immediately return a phone call or email requesting comment about the ongoing immigration case and the latest charges. Kuck said his client’s immigration case “hasn’t happened at all,” because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting court delays. But 21 Savage, he said, considers the U.S. home and plans to stay here. The rapper has an immigration hearing scheduled for Nov. 1, Kuck told the AJC.
In recent months, the rapper has been trying to get a green card, which would give him permanent residency and a path to citizenship, Buzzfeed reported.
“As a minor, his family overstayed their work visas, and he, like almost 2 million other children, was left without legal status through no fault of his own,” Kuck said following his client’s 2019 arrest.
Outside of his successful music career, Abraham-Joseph has made a name for himself because of his annual back-to-school drives and other charity work benefiting students and single mothers in the community where he grew up.
Credit: undefined
Credit: undefined
He performed last weekend at Music Midtown and will return to Atlanta on Monday night for the third stop of “The Off-Season” tour with fellow rapper J. Cole.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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