How 21 Savage nearly died on his 21st birthday: “I did a lot of shit to a lot of people”
21 Savage is one of the biggest rappers in the US with over 40 million monthly Spotify listeners. However, he might not have started a career in hip-hop if it weren’t for almost losing his life on his 21st birthday. On October 22nd, 2013, the London-born, Atlanta-raised rapper’s life changed forever when his best friend, Johnny, was killed during an attempted robbery. 21 was lucky to escape the incident after being shot six times.
The date is even more relevant to 21 because it was also the birthdays of his friend, mother, and nephew. On the day of the incident, 21 went over to see Johnny and gave him a lift. As they were driving, a man entered the back of the vehicle.
“I had pulled up at his house and he was like, ‘Ride with me somewhere right quick, I got to handle some shit,'” he told Shannon Sharpe on the Club Shay Shay podcast. “He was like, ‘I don’t feel like going in my car, though, let’s just ride in your car.’
“A n*gga just jumped in the backseat and just was like, ‘Get up,’ type shit. I be thinking back on a lot of shit. ‘Cause even like after that shit, I used to be like, ‘Damn, I done did like a lot of shit to a lot of people,’ type shit. So I used to be, like, ‘This shit could’ve come from anywhere.'”
He lied about not having any valuables on him, with two men opening fire. “I had something else for him, not what he wanted,” he said. “But he had something for me, too, shit. They was really scared for real. It was two of them. One of them jumped in the backseat, one of them was standing up outside the car.”
After being shot by the man outside the car, who fled the scene, 21 told Johnny to shoot the man in the vehicle. “I remember the gun jammed, so I had caught it back again and when I put my arm over the seat, he put his gun on my arm and shot me,” he remembered. “So my gun fell out my hand, and I remember us fighting over my gun, then it went off one more time. Boom.”
He received gunshot wounds to his hand and saw the man fall to the ground as he ran off. “I had a iPhone, this was probably like the iPhone 3 or some shit. Ugly ass iPhone,” 21 said. “I remember trying to unlock the phone to call 911 and my blood kept drying up the screen. So I remember I got out the car, but first, that’s how I knew Johnny dead.
“‘Cause after buddy got out the car and ran, I remember I told Johnny, ‘Pull off bro, pull off.’ And then the car wasn’t moving, but his foot was on the gas. It was in park, so the engine was like [revving]. It was like some movie shit, the windshield wipers was like [moving back and forth].”
21 attempted to seek help from a house on the street, but nobody answered, before getting through to the police. Then, another guy showed up. He recalled, “I remember telling them my brother dead, and then I remember… I guess the n*gga who was driving them n*ggas, he came looking for the n*gga who was in the backseat.” Nothing happened in the end, with police officers showing up shortly after.
When they arrived, he sat on the street with his bloody hands handcuffed behind his back. Paramedics then appeared at the scene and took him to the hospital to prevent him from bleeding out. Luckily for 21, none of the bullets his his vital organs, and he’s alive to tell the devastating story today.