‘Savage Mode 2’ is the second collab project from Atlanta rapper 21 Savage and music producer Metro Boomin. It is the second installment in the Savage Mode series and was released on Friday, October 2nd, 2020. The album consists of 15 songs, includes features from Drake, Young Thug, and Young Nudy, and narration from actor Morgan Freeman. Prior to its release, the album was announced with a trailer directed by Gibson Hazard. ‘Savage Mode 2′ is available on all major music streaming platforms.
The album begins with a speech by Morgan Freeman. During this speech, Freeman talks about great men uniting together and the outcome of that. According to Freeman, “When great men came together, the men multiply each other’s attributes and become one.”
From the Intro, 21 and Metro Boomin take the listener into the second track “Runnin”. On this Diana Ross sampled track, 21 raps about the fear that he brings his enemies and also reflects on certain moments in his life. He begins the song by reminiscing about past events in his lifetime. Throughout the rest of “Runnin”, Savage rhymes in detail about things he’s done to his “opps” in the past as a result of their actions. “He was talkin’ gangster, we caught him at a light…..Got out of line, spanked that baby, we had to rock him to sleep,” the Atlanta emcee brags.
“Rich N—– S—-” is the fifth track on ‘Savage Mode 2’. On this track, 21 teams up with fellow Atlanta rapper Young Thug. The two go back and forth boasting about their lavish lives from designer clothes ( I be fresh as h–l, rockin’ Prada) to luxury cars (Used to ride MARTA, now a n—- get head in the Cullinan ……Back-to-back Porsche, me and Savage ridin’ ’round) and jewelry (All this water on me, where the whales at).
“Snitches and Rats Interlude” is the eighth song on the album. The interlude is completely narrated by Morgan Freeman. In the minute long track, Freeman explains the difference between a snitch and a rat. “A “snitch” is someone minding other folk’s business to find information they can sell for a price or trade for some other form of compensation. A “rat” is a traitor, a conceiver, a planner, or physical participator,” Freeman stated. The “Snitches and Rats” Interlude is followed by the song “Snitches and Rats,” which features fellow Atlanta rapper Young Nudy. In the track, both 21 and Nudy rap about their dislike for snitches and rats and also explain how they treat people on their team or in their circle who are unloyal and untrustworthy.
On the 14th track “R.I.P Luv”, Savage talks about his bad luck with relationships, romantic and platonic ones. Throughout the first verse, he rhymes about a relationship he had with a woman who played him. Also, in that same verse he explains how the relationship started off well at first before “the situation took a U-turn, the foundation crumbled and the roof burned” because of infidelity and mistreatment on both ends. In the second verse of “R.I.P Luv”, the Georgia emcee goes into detail about another romantic relationship. “I had your back, you put a knife in mine, If you was finna lose your life, I woulda gave you mine…. Can’t believe what we came to, You won’t believe what the fame do.” The love that Savage had for this girlfriend was not returned by her. He loved her so much that he would have given his life for her despite the ups and downs the couple had. He ends the verse with these lines, “Got my first taste of love and I thank you, Savage, never let another woman taint you, Fallen victim to my feelings, something I can’t do, Get revenge on every b—-, even if it ain’t you.” This relationship was Savage’s last attempt at love and now he’s done with trying his hands at it. This relationship was the last straw for him.
Overall, I give ‘Savage Mode 2’ 6 stars out of 10 stars. The album was okay but I needed a little more from it. The one take away from the album was Morgan Freeman only because his voice over on the album was unexpected.