Rapper 21 Savage released from Ice detention on bond
Rapper 21 Savage has been granted a release from custody on bond.
The 26-year-old had been arrested last week by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) who said the rapper, whose given name is She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was living in the US with an expired visa. It was confirmed two days later that he had been born in Britain.
The rapper’s team of lawyers, including Alex Spiro, who was hired by Jay Z, released the following statement:
“In the last 24 hours, in the wake of the Grammy awards at which he was scheduled to attend and perform, we received notice that She’yaa was granted an expedited hearing. Today, 21 Savage was granted a release on bond. He won his freedom.
“21 Savage asked us to send a special message to his fans and supporters – he says that while he wasn’t present at the Grammy awards, he was there in spirit and is grateful for the support from around the world and is more than ever, ready to be with his loved ones and continue making music that brings people together.
“He will not forget this ordeal or any of the other fathers, sons, family members, and faceless people, he was locked up with or that remain unjustly incarcerated across the country. And he asks for your hearts and minds to be with them.”
21 Savage was nominated for two Grammy awards on Sunday, but was still in custody. His name was only mentioned once during the show, by Childish Gambino’s producer Ludwig Goransson while accepting their award for record of the year for which 21 Savage had also been nominated with Post Malone.
Ice’s southern regional spokesman first confirmed the arrest, saying Abraham-Joseph had been convicted of a felony drug charge in Georgia in 2014, which gave Ice license to take an undocumented immigrant into custody and begin removal proceedings.
Charles H Kuck, his first lawyer later contradicted Ice, saying the arrest was “based upon incorrect information about prior criminal charges”, in a statement he made to BuzzFeed News.
The rapper is awaiting his U Visa, a special non-immigrant visa for victims of crimes. He was shot six times at the age of 21. It could take a decade to be approved as there is a backlog of hundreds of thousands that must be processed.
21 Savage has lived in Atlanta since 2005, having arrived in the US at the age of seven.