A 21 Savage Issa Album collaboration review featuring Dat Boi with a Rocket Launcher and Samuel L Windu.
Hello my dear one eyed snakes and beloved hot pockets, today we will doing a brutally honest review of the new 21 Savage album that was released on July 7th, Issa Album. This is his debut studio album. All previous releases, such as Savage Mode and Slaughter King were mixtapes and collabs with other artists. His best release up to Issa Album was Savage Mode, where Metro Boomin was on every song.
Metro Boomin is known as one of today’s hottest producers, and his beats are prominent in songs from artists such as Future, Drake, Gucci Mane, and other big names. Having Metro Boomin on Savage Mode was perhaps the one thing, in my, Samuel L Windu’s, opinion that really pushed 21 into the main light. Yes, he had some good singles and great bangers from his previous album, but on Savage Mode, just about every song was…well…savage. A prime example is the song Real Nigga. The beat is extremely atmospheric and Savage’s voice keeps it calm and flowing.
Well, enough about that. Time to begin the review. We will be splitting up the 14 songs, with Dat Boi with a Rocket Launcher doing the first 7 and Samuel L Windu doing the second 7. And with that, I give the spotlight to Dat Boi with a Rocket Launcher!
First of all let me address this by saying that we here at Crappy thoughts wish nothing but success for young Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (goddamn what a mouthful). We understand the tragic events that occurred in his life that resulted in the death of his mother and sibling, so cheers to you 21, hopefully you don’t flame out, and you actually try to diversify your music and learn new techniques while producing new content. But I won’t fault ya if you spend majority of your time getting fat ass stacks and spending it on thick thots, so you do you man.
Before we actually review the music, man I just have to review this album cover, like really nigga? You really have to be holding a styrofoam cup with lean in it, surrounded by 100 dollar bills? How fucking generic can your q-tip ass be? Jesus Christ, and who drew this picture of you? Goddamn my 2 year old niece can draw better than that, you look so fucking slow my dude, like you struggled to pass the 4th grade slow. WHY THEM TREES ON FIRE? WHAT ISSA?
Famous I have to be honest, I was really feeling the beat of this song, the mix of the piano chords with the trap baseline was a really nice blend, it felt natural and it didn’t completely drown out the lyrics like most trap music does. This beat compliments the story of the lyricist nicely as 21 Savage talks about his rise to fame and all the events that had to occur for him to get where he is today, but that hasn’t stopped him from putting in the work and gangbanging. His voice leaves a lot to be desired as he sounds emotionless and flat throughout the whole album, no range what so ever. Bottom line is that the nigga can’t sing. Good story and nice blend of beats. 7⁄10
Bank Account Huh? Rap song titled bank account, I WONDER WHAT IT’S ABOUT? And if you still haven’t then even god can’t fucking help you. Basically 21 savage talks about his wealth (like every goddamn rapper does) and blesses us with such sophisticated lyrics like “Bad bitch, cute face and some nice titties” and “$7500 on a Saint Laurent jacket.” Fuck I lost a brain cell. Seriously, how many songs like these are out there. There is another hard ass beat to this song but it is completely ruined by his weak ass voice and lyrics. 4⁄10
Close My Eyes This song discusses the experiences that 21 had when he was with his gang and what that did to him mentally. Here he is somewhat giving us a look into his life and what he had to deal with and do in order to survive and make it out of the streets. And I can appreciate songs like these, some of us are very privileged to never live under those types of circumstances. The beat this time has a very serious tone that is dark and actually goes quite hard. 6⁄10
Bad Business The beat of this song is hella trap, has a nice flow to it, something you can definitely put on at a party and just go ape shit too. Put that shit on and turn up with your buddies. The lyrics, like most of 21 Savage’s content, are really basic and dull, and the flow of his words are out of order and sound hella weird. For instance “I pull it out the boxers and then she lick it”, the lick sounds like LEEK in the song and it’s annoying. 5⁄10
(This is what a leek looks like btw)
At this point of the review I’m just starting to sound repetitive as fuck, the beats produced not only by 21 Savage but also Metro Boomin are the only saving grace for this album, as the lyrics are generic and have no meaning, like goddamn do all young rappers have to rap about the same shit over and over. I’ve heard it from Lil Yachty, Kodak black, 22 Savage, 69 Savage, Lil Savage, EVEN FUCKING LIL PUMP (STOP WITH THE LIL NAMES). Baby Girl and Thug life both get a 5⁄10. But FaceTime has got to be the worst song in this album as the beats not only suck but Christ when 21 speaks you can barley understand a goddamn word he is saying. The boi is mumbling, and when you can understand him his tone is flat as shit and there is just no effort in his singing and it comes off as lazy as fuck. The intro to this song is just a mood killer. Fuck this song 1⁄10. This type of rap just isn’t my cup of tequila, I need a song filled with emotion and lyrics that tell a story. We have been blessed with so many once in a lifetime talents from Tupac, Bigge, NWA, Andre 3000, Eminem, Jay-Z, and Kendrick Lamar. But With those names you have whack ass artist who produce rushed shit just to make easy money. This is 21 Savage’s debut album so he can improve, but it is up to him. I’m Dat Boi with a Rocket Launcher and I will now pass the torch over to mah main squeeze, Mr. Samuel Windu.
Thank you for that honest and glorious review of the first 7 songs of the album Dr. Dat Boi with a Rocket Launcher. I am sure the audience agrees with you on most, if not all, points. I will now give a short but thorough examination of the second set of 7 songs on the album.
Nothin New The 8th song of the album comes packaged with a serious beat with certain trap elements such as the strong bass and hard hitting rhythms. This is due to Zaytoven and Metro Boomin, as they both produced the track. 21 Savage decided to portray a more thoughtful message with this track. He tries to bring to light to the listener how in modern society, we’ve become desensitized and even used to seeing black kids fall down the steps of society, join gangs, drop out of school, get shot, etc. These notions are a rather large step forward for 21, since in previous albums he’s mainly rapped about him and being in the game, dropping out of school, his brother’s death, and other events. While it seems like he may symbolize his life, I do think he knows that the game can’t be played forever, and at some point you have to retire. You can only be a gangster for so long until someone snuffs you out and 21 wants to bring to light that the game is not something to be proud of. The game seems to now even be expected of black youth to embrace, which is very wrong.
I give this track a 9⁄10 because while the lyrics may be rather weak, the message is clear and my respect for 21 increased since he himself is quite hard and has sort of become the image of the modern day “savage”. For him to be saying that we as a society have become accustomed to seeing black people fall in life means that something has to change. And it sure does not help when people accept their sterotypes.
Numb Numb was not one of my favorite tracks, but I do rate it higher besides the other songs. The beat, produced by Metro Boomin, is once again a banger but has some serious motifs.
The lyrics, at first glace, seem to be a little deep since 21 mentions the death of his brother and the shit he’s had to deal with on the streets. But on further examination, it seems to be saying that he expects the new-found money he’s got from his musical ventures to “numb” all that pain he’s been through. While money does solve about 90% of problems, that final 10%, which I consider to be emotional problems, is not something that money can solve. It can just be an enabler to more extreme measures of “fixing” that 10%.
I am not a fan of the chorus, I think it’s very annoying and repetitive, and that he could have done better. I give the song a 7⁄10.
Dead People Boy. I do not like this song. LOL. It’s just so…bad. The lyrics are dry, and the beat, produced by Southside, is extremely lackadaisical.
It’s all about his wealth, hence the dead people (the peeps on the dollar bills).
I give it a 1⁄10. Stay away from it.
Money Convo My god this song is fire. The beat. Is fucking. Killer. It’s produced by Metro Boomin and is extremely fucking dark. It’s reminiscient of Real Nigga from Savage Mode, which I am a fan of. His voice works very well with the beat, and the bass is killer.
The song is not lyrically gifted, as 21 raps about being, well, a savage, if you can believe it or not. It’s all about that money, those hoes, and that purp.
I give it a 9⁄10. Fucking killer beat but generic lyrics.
Special The beak is so weak, produced by Wheezy. I realize the song is a love song but it could have been better. If this is what’s considered a modern day ballad, then please bring back Metallica to play Nothing Else Matters because that’s a real ballad. Still, the song is better than most pop shit out there.
Considering 21 is now dating phat Amber Rose (who looks SO good nude), I imagine the song was about her. Lyrics are about her being loyal and how he’s always got her back.
I give the song a 4⁄10. It was bland with an atrocious beat but a good effort considering this is possibly the first (and hopefully last) ever 21 Savage love song.
Whole Lot The beat, produced by Metro Boomin, is quite relaxed. However, the rest of the songs leaves a lot to be required.
The lyrics seem to be about being hella rich and the problems associated with the superstyle life. This reminds me of a budget Numb from earlier in the album, and has Young Thug doing the stupid pointless adlibs. Really. Why the fuck is Young Thug on this if all he says is “Oooh” and “Yeahhh” over and over. What a pointless inclusion and frankly what a pointless artist. Young Thug makes me want to cut off my ears with a rusty blunt knife that has been dipped in molten lava and then taken to a Russian prison and skinned alive while someone pisses on my organs.
Song is 5⁄10 tho.
7 Min Freestyle The beat, by Metro Boomin and I believe Southside, is rather solid. I can crunk to it (do people still say that?). But as for the song, why is it even on the album. Why. It sounds like a compilation of his lyrics from previous album.
In one sentence, it’s about 21 Savage has always been a savage even when he became rich. I give it 6⁄10 since it’s boring.
Also, he may have said “21” about 300 times during the whole 7 minutes, which has to be some type of new record. 300 / 21 = 14.28. Round that down to 14, which is the amout of songs in the album. Half Life 3 confirmed!
My final thoughts on the album This is his most lyrically advanced and diverse album. Usually 21 has a bunch of phrases that he repeats in his songs and even in-between albums, but this one did not seem to have much of that. His singing style is still laid back and rather lazy, but it flows well with the beats. In my opinion, Savage Mode is still his best album, followed by Issa Album.
And for real, what the fuck going on with that album cover. Why the fuck is it so pink. Why the fuck is he holding lean. Why the fuck does he love lean so much. Is it even lean. Why the fuck are his nostrils as big as his eyes. Why the fuck do his nostrils individually look like human skulls. Goddamn it 21, get your shit together.
We here at Crappy Thoughts hope you enjoyed this collaboration review of Issa Album (available on shitty iTunes here) between Dat Boi with a Rocket and Samuel L Windu. Until next time.
Stay curious my friends.