21 Savage remained absent from Drake’s concert at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, which took place on Friday evening.
Many fans of the 36-year-old hitmaker expected the 30-year-old rapper to appear during the third-to-last stop of the It’s All a Blur Tour co-headlining tour after reportedly receiving his green card.
However, the performer, who recently settled a lawsuit with Conde Nast over fake Vogue covers, was replaced without explanation by fellow rapper Lil Baby.
21 Savage, Drake and Lil Baby have remained silent on their respective social media pages about the legally embattled rapper’s absence from the concert.
The Find Your Love singer is currently set to perform a second show at the Scotiabank Arena on Saturday evening.
Missed opportunity: 21 Savage remained absent from Drake’s concert at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, which took place Friday evening; he is seen in June
Big plans: Many fans of the 36-year-old hitmaker expected the 30-year-old rapper to appear during the third-to-last stop of the co-headlining It’s All a Blur Tour after reportedly losing his green card; Drake is seen in 2016
Eliminated: However, the artist, who recently settled a lawsuit with Conde Nast over fake Vogue covers, was replaced at the last minute by fellow rapper Lil Baby without explanation; Lil Baby can be seen in September
The final concert of the It’s All a Blur Tour will also take place on Monday evening at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Drake previously stated that 21 Savage received a green card amid years of immigration-related issues.
The In My Feelings rapper, 36, announced the news about 21 Savage, 30, in new material he released on Thursday titled 8AM In Charlotte.
The single includes the lyrics: “Savage got a green card straight from the consulate / Where I go, you go, brother, we Yugoslav.”
With a green card, 21 Savage could enter Canada to perform at the shows and re-enter the United States.
The update marks the latest chapter in a four-year battle for 21 Savage regarding his immigration status. The Georgia clerk of the Superior Court in DeKalb County told TMZ on Thursday that an immigration case involving the rapper has been closed.
The London-born music artist was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities on February 3, 2019, amid allegations that he had been staying illegally in the US after his visa expired in 2006.
Officials said a gun was recovered from the vehicle occupied by 21 Savage, whose real name is Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph; and that he tried to throw away a bottle of codeine during his arrest.
The latest: Drake, 36, says 21 Savage, 30, has been given a green card amid years of immigration-related headaches
21 Savage turned himself in to authorities at the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office in September 2021 and was bonded shortly thereafter.
Prosecutors in DeKalb County formally charged 21 Savage in January 2022 with possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance, according to TMZalmost three years after he was initially detained.
Sources told TMZ at the time that no court date had been scheduled in DeKalb County, which would continue to delay the immigration case, which had also stalled significantly due to the pandemic.
The Grammy winner has been cleared to travel within the US, his immigration lawyer Charles Kuck told the newspaper last year, but he could not leave the country because he did not have a visa to return.
The My Life artist gave his thoughts on immigration with the Associated press in October 2019 before receiving awards from the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles.
He said children who were in the country unlawfully should have been automatically granted U.S. citizenship.
“As a kid you don’t know what’s going on,” 21 Savage said. ‘Now you’re growing up and you have to figure it out. I can’t get a job. Can’t get a license. I am one of the lucky ones who became successful. There are a lot of people who can’t do that.’
21 Savage, who was held in a Georgia detention center for 10 days in 2019, was born in Britain and brought to the US at the age of seven.
Freedom of Movement: With a green card, 21 Savage could enter Canada to perform at Drake’s upcoming shows in Toronto, and re-enter the United States; pictured last year
Issues: Drake’s update marks the latest chapter in a four-year battle for 21 Savage regarding his immigration status; seen in Atlanta on March 25, 2022
He told the AP that he felt he “should be exonerated” under the circumstances because he had no choice as a child.
“It’s not like I was 30 and woke up and moved here,” 21 Savage said. “I’ve been here since I was seven or eight, probably younger than that. I didn’t know anything about visas and stuff. I just knew we were moving to a new place.”
21 Savage also said the process of obtaining a visa takes too long for undocumented immigrants because it “hangs over your head forever.”
“They’re just losing hope,” said Mr. Right Now artist. “I feel like kids who are brought here at a young age, they should automatically say, ‘Yes, it’s good to stay here, work and go to college.’ It has to be nipped in the bud before it gets to the point where you grow up.”
