Wednesday 10/7: 21 Savage—"Runnin"
Today, we share our thoughts on a new song from the Atlanta rapper 21 Savage.
Welcome to Endless Scroll, the brainchild of Eli Enis (he/him) and Eric Bennett (they/them). Since Feb. 2019, we’ve been a weekly podcast about music, the internet, and where those two things intersect. Now we’re, also a M-F newsletter about songs. Our format is simple: a link to a song and a short take from each of us about what we think of it. Each day of the week has a corresponding genre: Monday is indie, Tuesday is punk, Wednesday is hip-hop, Thursday is pop, and Friday is misc.
Today, we share our thoughts on a new song from the Atlanta rapper 21 Savage.
21 Savage—"Runnin"
Eli Enis:
“Called the first one savage mode, my mood that’s what it was.” After a Morgan Freeman intro and a Diana Ross sample that melts over crackling vinyl sounds, those are the first words 21 Savage raps on Savage Mode II. I hadn’t listened to this project’s 2016 predecessor—the Atlanta rapper’s first of several full collaborations with producer Metro Boomin—in a long time, so I gave the project a spin before I wrote this just to refresh my memory. After spending the whole weekend shaking my head at how many times I was running back its jaw-dropping sequel, I was honestly taken aback by how slow, sparse, and low-energy Savage Mode I sounds today.
I almost forgot that 21 Savage emerged as a menacingly cold and eerily composed foil to the high-energy rap that was dominating Soundcloud and the psychedelic institutions that were ruling Atlanta. 21 Savage didn’t have the colorful rapping personality of a Future or a Young Thug, and although he was clearly influenced by Migos’ stoic, hypnotic repetition, he didn’t indulge in their tongue-trilling choruses of ad-libs. Savage’s dead-eyed simplicity and frigid, shadowy beat selection sounded strikingly different from the dominant sounds of the time, which is worth noting because I don’t think his music registers that way in the current climate. In the years since Savage Mode, both his tone and his actual rapping style have become increasingly more expressive.
On his last project, 2018’s i am > i was, the best moments are when he absolutely raps his ass off, like on the piano-laden “break da law” and the record’s soulful, Grammy-winning intro, “a lot”. Savage Mode II sounds like a convergence of every sound he’s shifted between—from the pop playfulness of Issa Album’s standouts, the technical deftness of i am > i was, and the cool, almost methodical rawness of his early material. That opening line of “Runnin” casts him as an older, wiser, and perhaps slightly calmer man than he once was, but whatever personal growth he’s endured in the last couple years has also spilled into his creative mojo. 21 Savage sounds fucking awesome on this record, and I feel confident saying that “Runnin” is easily one of the best tracks he’s ever released.
The beat is positively gnarly. Every line of each verse seems to pop out of the mix, constantly doling out the electric satisfaction of a 16-bar climax with each completed phrase. And the hook. . .holy shit, it’s a bona fide earworm that doesn’t sacrifice an ounce of his nonchalant swagger. On top of all that, the track is bookended by two Morgan Freeman narrations. Normally, I’m of the mind that treating Morgan Freeman as Le Epic Cool Guy is one step below making Chuck Norris jokes. Somehow, though, 21 Savage and Metro Boomin make him sound essential, not like an overpriced gimmick. “Runnin” concludes with Freeman’s dramatic voice asking the questions, “Are things better or worse the second time around? Can we really do anything more than once?” Both queries are rhetorical. Savage Mode II > Savage Mode.
Michael Brooks:
“Are things better or worse the second time around? Can we really do anything more than once?” Morgan Freeman of all people asks at the end of “Runnin,” the first actual track on Savage Mode II. The follow-up to 2016’s Savage Mode, which solidified both 21 Savage and Metro Boomin as certified hitmakers with songs like “No Heart” and “X,” is a high-stakes, totally batshit crazy project that somehow actually works (this thing is narrated by MORGAN. FUCKING. FREEMAN. which is proof that nothing is off limits during the final stretch of 2020). With this being the first new music I’d heard from either of them since 2018 I was worried that they might need to first shake off the cobwebs before teaming up, but thankfully Savage Mode II is a worthy sequel to its predecessor. Rather than trying to recreate what made Savage Mode so special, the duo takes an entirely new approach, featuring Metro Boomin at his most imaginative and 21 Savage at his most playful and carefree.
Savage Mode II is presented as some sort of cinematic experience that pushes both artists into new directions, like on tracks such as “Steppin On Niggas” and “RIP Luv.” But given how sinister sounding the majority of the album is, it’s probably most apt to compare it to something like Freddy vs. Jason if it were a buddy comedy instead of a horror flick. Smash cut to “Runnin”, where Metro Boomin flips a Diana Ross sample into one of the most haunting beats of his career, creating an ominous backdrop for 21 Savage, who delivers some truly menacing bars about murdering people with the same enthusiasm as Ben Stein’s character in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which is legitimately terrifying. “Runnin,” like the rest of Savage Mode II, is ultimately carried by Metro Boomin’s ability to guide 21 Savage to each one of his next stage cues, like any other director that’s worth their salt, but when 21 Savage blurts out something ridiculous like “I was at the Met Gala with my shooter,” you start to ask yourself what’s a director without their muse? For the case of Savage Mode II, the answer is probably something a lot less interesting.