Drake enlisted the help of Lil Baby on Friday night (October 6) after his tourmate, 21 Savage, was denied entry into Canada. The Her Loss collaborators were scheduled to perform at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto as part of the It’s All A Blur Tour, but Canadian officials had other plans. The concert would’ve marked the first time 21 Savage was legally permitted to leave the United States after obtaining his green card. According to TMZ, officials didn’t explain why they didn’t authorize the rapper to enter their country.
Drake and lil baby tn pic.twitter.com/TS3P1Eh7Gs
— p (@skinnypickless) October 7, 2023
21 Savage shocked the rap community in 2019 when he was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. Evidently, Savage wasn’t from Atlanta like he originally claimed. As it turned out, he was born in London, England. ICE spokesman Brian Cox said, 21 Savage—real name Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph—was taken into custody as part of a “targeted operation.” Cox added he was an “unlawfully present United Kingdom national” who legally entered the States in July 2005 on a visa. However, his visa expired a year later and he’s remained in the U.S. illegally for the past 13 years.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested unlawfully present United Kingdom national Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph AKA ’21 Savage’ during a targeted operation with federal and local law enforcement partners early Sunday in metro Atlanta,” ICE said in a statement at the time. “Mr. Abraham-Joseph was taken into ICE custody as he is unlawfully present in the U.S. and also a convicted felon.
“Mr. Abraham-Joseph initially entered the U.S. legally in July 2005, but subsequently failed to depart under the terms of his nonimmigrant visa and he became unlawfully present in the U.S. when his visa expired in July 2006. In addition to being in violation of federal immigration law, Mr. Abraham-Joseph was convicted on felony drug charges in October 2014 in Fulton County, Georgia.”
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Drake revealed 21 Savage has finally received his green card in the For All the Dogs single “8AM in Charlotte.” He raps, “Savage got a green card straight out of the consulate/Where I go, you go, brother, we Yugoslavian.” Savage’s lawyer, Charles Kuck, told The Associated Press in a statement that his client has officially become a permanent U.S. resident and may now go overseas. Subsequently, 21 Savage plans to tour the world. However, this latest hiccup may signal further challenges down the line.
