In February of 2019, the hip-hop world was shocked to hear that 21 Savage had been arrested and detained by ICE because he was living in the U.S. with an expired visa. While many were shocked by the arrest, many were also appalled that the Atlanta artist was British. Nonetheless, 21 was caught up in a very serious situation, and we’re glad he found a way out.
On the latest episode of My Expert Opinion with Math Hoffa, 21 spoke on his situation with ICE and revealed that Meek Mill played a role in helping him get out of custody. 21 explains that when he got locked up, he called Meek Mill and told him he was in jail. Meek told Jay-Z, who got a lawyer on the case.
“They detained me ’cause they said I had felony conviction, but the felony conviction got dismissed. And I called Meek while I was in jail and told Meek, ‘Bro, I just got locked up.’ [Meek] called Jay-Z, and Jay-Z put a lawyer on my case … [he] played a role in getting me out of there.”
Hov had called Alex Spiro to assist in 21’s legal battle and called the arrest an “absolute travesty” in a statement released soon after 21’s arrest.
“The arrest and detention of 21 Savage is an absolute travesty, his U visa petition has been pending for 4 years. In addition to being a successful recording artist, 21 deserves to be reunited with his children immediately, #Free21Savage.”
21 expressed his gratitude to Jay for helping him get out of custody.
“[Jay’s] ain’t just doing that shit for anybody, just ’cause you rap …,” he said. “It’s like you gotta be from a certain cloth … I don’t feel like he’s just doing that for anybody. I ain’t Roc Nation or any of that shit.”
You can watch a clip of the conversation below.
