21 Savage has been a staple of Atlanta rap for well over a decade, and the dark music he produces doesn’t seem like it would be compatible with any smooth-singing vocalist. However, the Georgia emcee once revealed that he loves R’n’B and even unveiled his favourite R’n’B album of all time.
During the early 2000s, serious rappers, whether it be Fat Joe or Lil Wayne, would often call upon vocalists to feature on their tracks to create mainstream anthems. Singers such as Ashanti, Kelly Rowland and Omarion frequently appeared on songs and helped MCs clinch the Billboard Hot 100 number-one spot.
However, since the rise of acts such as T-Pain and the creation of projects like Kanye West’s 2008 record 808s & Heartbreak, rappers have now fused the two genres together, with artists such as Drake and Travis Scott being evidence of this.
Irrespective of this, 21 Savage (real name Shéyaa Abraham-Joseph) still has an affinity for the music of singers he grew up listening to and often takes to social media to show love to artists and, on occasion, sing himself.
During one Instagram live, Savage filmed himself singing along to tracks such as ‘Nothing Even Matters’ by Lauryn Hill and ‘Next Lifetime’ by Erykah Badu. It was quite the contrast to the lyricist who, in 2016, insisted he makes “murder music.”
However, irrespective of this, in 2020, Joseph took to Twitter/X to speak about one specific R’n’B vocalist, declaring his love for their album. Posting a picture of the project’s artwork, the Georgia native professed expressed his attachment to Usher’s fourth studio album, Confessions.
The 2004 project boasts the iconic club anthem ‘Yeah’ featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, as well as the extraordinary single ‘My Boo’ alongside Alicia Keys. Confessions is a diamond-certified project. However, that isn’t enough for Jospeh, who wrote, “We gotta get this album double diamond for the culture.” He continued, “This is my favourite r&b album of all time on god.”
You can see 21 Savage’s tweet and listen to Confessions below.