21 Savage, Metro Boomin kick off fall season with ‘Savage Mode 2’

Metro Boomin and 21 Savage release their second album together, with more songs and an overall listening time of 44 minutes.

Photo by Natasha Taubenheim ’22.

Metro Boomin and 21 Savage release their second album together, with more songs and an overall listening time of 44 minutes.

21 Savage and Metro Boomin teamed up to produce the crowd-pleasing album “Savage Mode” in 2016. Since then, a second album has been highly anticipated due to the success and love of the original. Savage Mode had several hits including “X,” “No Heart” and has featured Future- but the pair decided to give us fans what we have been wanting for years and unleashed “Savage Mode 2” on Friday, Oct. 2.  

The album features Drake and Young Thug, which was promising to listeners, as they are both popular and widely streamed artists. However, they are not the only ones who made surprise celebrity appearances; the entire album is narrated by American actor Morgan Freeman. 

Freeman is often impersonated in a humorous manner due to his distinctive deep voice. He is present in several areas throughout the album, such as the introduction, an interlude to Snitches and Rats, and even the final words of the project. This is especially amusing due to the fact that he is obviously quite different from the two creators, yet his voice fits perfectly with the mood and tone that Savage and Boomin are trying to convey.

The album cover is horror-film inspired and is essentially attempting to recreate Cash Money covers. While the name is written in a bold silver color, the artist utilizes black and red in several areas of the image such as the clouds and flames arising from the bottom. 21 Savage and Metro Boomin are front and center, rolling dice and flaunting their chains, and there is a bloody knife that seems to be a main focus as well- giving off the impression the pair is not to be messed with. They also do a good job of incorporating the spooky season into the cover with its horror film relations.

 

The horror film inspired Savage Mode album cover shows Metro Boomin and 21 Savage and is a take off of Cash Money covers. (Photo courtesy of Lyric Genius)

My favorite song of the 15 was “Many Men.” In the lyrics, 21 Savage describes the illegal and dangerous things that he has done throughout his life. While it appears he is ready to put this in the past, there are people in his life seeking revenge for the violence and wrongdoings he has created. There is so much emotion incorporated which makes it very engaging to listen to, and the beat is very fast-paced, as opposed to a slower and more calm type of music. 

The whole album carries this quick pace with songs like “Mr Right Now” and “Slidin,” both of which have a heavy rap base and great beat. 

I was not disappointed by this album, to say the least. Not only did it feature several of my favorite artists but the songs work perfectly together to create a motivational vibe and obtain 21 Savage’s music style. Overall, I loved this album and all of the songs deserve a spot on our fall playlists.