I AM > I WAS: RANKED

21 Savage released his second studio album in December of 2018, featuring on Billboard US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, in tenth place that whole year. We've taken a look at the legendary album to put them in order of our least favourite to our top five favourites from this incredible album. Let us know in the comments below which you would put first.

15. a&t

This very provocative track shows 21 Savage and Yung Miami rap about their sexual encounters for nearly four minutes. This track is quite boring and repetitive to listen to more than once at a time, therefore, the replay value of this song is none existent and we’re not huge fans of very sexual-heavy tracks, we’d rather listen to rappers talking about murders and drugs than their sexual history. For that reason, it’s only right this is the last position.

14. out for the night

The fans make this song out to be so good and the best track on the album, however, we just cannot see it, it’s repetitive and over-hyped and something we just cannot get behind, if anything we skip it when listening back to the album. The short verses show 21 wanting to talk with a girl but before that, she has to dance for him and when he wants to video call over FaceTime she refuses and only wants to talk online over Skype.

13. 1.5

Another easy listen, while the rappers go in together to talk about their financial status. Even in the intro alone, you hear 21 Savage tell everyone straight away that his earrings “cost half a ticket”, a ticket being American slag for a million dollars. Going on to subtly state that because his earrings are so expensive he simply cannot hear the same things that broke people here as he has a million dollar earrings, all before the first verse has even started. However, when the verse got to Offset, in our opinion, the song just went downhill, we simply aren’t feeling it in this track, this could be due to the fact that we’re just not huge fans of the Migos, so for that reason, this track is rated thirteen.

12. can't leave without it

Another fan-based G.O.A.T track that we just don’t see the hype for. When asked in a group which track is the best on the album, you will always find more than 50 people stating this song is the best, and we believe that it just isn’t. The meaning of the track is that they’re letting us know all of their possessions that they simply cannot leave without, for example, 21 and his Jewelry in line “One of my arms worth a ticket”, showing that he’s got expensive watches, rings, and bracelets on his arms all adding up to a million dollars. We see this again in the same verse when he says “We got four choppers that’s full”, slang for an automatic firearm. After he states he has four fully loaded guns, you already know not to mess with this guy in any sense.

11. pad lock

An insight into his ‘criminal lifestyle’, is exactly how Genius described this track, stating that he had developed a cold heart, and put it in a padlock. We love the first verse for this track as he plays with the word cereal in lines “I’m hangin’ with killers, serial (Straight Up), Still in the hood eatin’ cereal (Straight Up)” with another reference later in the verse with “I’m a big dog, you a Cheerio (On God)”. However, we’ve been quite let down by the chorus as it’s simply very boring and just a long verse of the rapper repeating himself like a bad echo and we just aren’t a fan of it, for that reason, this is placed in eleven.

10. 4L

A track dedicated to his 4L gang, joined by Young Nudy as they rap about their murderous lifestyle, again with their guns and wealth, which we’ve obviously seen before. However, we love the line “Made it to the top, but I give back to the slum (Straight Up)”, this bar is about Savage giving back to his community through a ‘Back to School Drive’ to help the underprivileged children by giving them school supplies. We love a rapper who gives back to where he came from, however, this track simply just isn’t for us, there’s nothing particularly bad about the song but it’s just something we’ve heard before in other tracks, but better.

9. monster

A link up with Childish Gambino to talk about how wealth can turn somebody into a monster is evident in the intro as he says “Power, The money and the fame me a monster, a monster”, this is repeated in the chorus as the two come together and let us know again, how much it really turns someone into a monster. We love the second verse in particular when 21 spent his time flexing his fighting ability when he says “You could dump me in the middle of the ocean, I’m still comin’ out dry (Dry), You can leave me in the middle of the jungle with bears and tigers, I’m still comin’ out fly (Fly)”. We believe this track has so much replay value and deserves a very strong ninth place.

8. break da law

We are suckers for a track that talks about gang violence and his love for breaking the law, hence the title of the track. The gun talk in this track is just what we wanted and needed to hear, for example, in verse two, he raps “I’m 4L gang for L, dawg, and we got big rifles (On God), let me pop my shit (On God), keep a big Glock on my hip (Yeah)”, showing how loyal he is to his gang and his friends that he grew up with as well as showing off his gun collection in the same sentence. Our love for this song makes this track an easy eight.

7. all my friends

A reflecting track with 21 and Post Malone, for the two to talk about their success and friendships being affected. Flexing on them in lyrics like “I lost all my friends countin’ bands in the Bentley coupe’, simply stating that he lost his friends while he was busy counting out all of his money in his very expensive car, and for that, we can only respect him. The same in 21’s verse when he raps “Everybody says I went ghost, jump in my Phantom”, the Phantom of which is his Rolls-Royce Phantom, again stating he’s too busy in his expensive car collection. We like this track as they’re being real towards their friends that they’ve lost, being honest in their situations as they’ve lost a lot of people that were once in their close circle. An easy seven position for us.

6. ball w/o you

Genius has said that this is a reflective track for all of the past relationships he had as well as the fact that he had said he feels that love is artificial and prefers loyalty as this to him, is a higher level of respect than love. The track just shows how loyal he is as a person and isn’t horrible to any of his exes. He lets us know how he feels when he raps “I’d rather have loyalty than love, ‘cause love really don’t mean jack (straight up), seel love is just a feeling, you can love somebody and still stab them in they back (On God)”, showing how he really feels about love and loyalty. We are huge fans of this song, however, we feel it’s only right in sixth place as it’s overplayed by a lot of huge fans of the album, and we have a solid top five, so cannot be placed any higher.

5. good day

This song is a beautiful track to listen to in any situation and is so easy to vibe to as it’s such a simple but effective song. The chorus is repeated with “Today was a good day”, followed by something different in each line, for example, “I sold a brick of yay”, “Cross her off the list”, and “I woke up with your bitch”. We love this song a lot and is easily top five from the album so it’s only right to place this amazing track in fifth place.

4. gun smoke

Another track on the album to flex his use of guns and show off his collection of firearms, however, it’s done better than the last track. 21 loves to refer to himself as the ‘big dog’ and the top guy that shouldn’t be messed with, as shown in the line “I’m a killer whale, you a tadpole (Tadpole)”. We are also told that he’s very much on smoke and will do anything for his gang in line “You got asthma, you don’t want smoke (Straight Up), Who want cancer? I’m giving out smoke (Straight Up)”, stating that whoever wants it will be getting it. We love this aggressiveness from 21 and for that reason, it’s so easy to make this track number four.

3. letter 2 my momma

This heartfelt song, dedicated to his mother is something we love to see from rappers as they show love to the main women in their lives, in this example, we can see some loving words for his mum. Reflecting on how he used to act when growing up without a father, in line “My daddy never was around, that ***** too lame (Fuck ‘em), I think that’s why I quit school and started to shoot thangs (21)”, going on to tell us all of the things that his mum taught him to do whilst growing up as a single parent. We absolutely love this side of rappers and have got to make this a part of our top five, coming in at number three.

2. a lot

The fact that 21 put this as the first track is incredible and a very promising thing when you first listen to the album. The fact J Cole is on the track only makes it better as he swiftly comes in at the end of the track without anybody knowing as it isn’t made clear in the track title. Of course, we hear 21 take pride in his gang 4L, as he says “Told my brothers take my breath if I turn to a snitch, but I’m 21 4L, ain’t no way I’ma snitch”, showing his loyalty again. We can instantly, confidently say that this track is top three of the album, so it’s only right we put it in the middle of the ratings at number two.

1. asmr

We will never shut up about this track, listen to it with your headphones on full volume and let the ASMR tingle down your spine and we promise you will not regret it. We also love that 21 sounds so clear through this whole track and you can properly hear everything he’s been saying, from start to finish. 21 makes sure he lets his ops know that they are not the same on any level, for example, he says “We was stealin’ cars, You was inside the house (Pussy), I know he gon’ be a rat one day, right now we call him a mouse (21)”. We are obsessed with this track so it has got to be in the first place.