More than three years ago, the music world was shocked by the news of 21 Savage’s Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest. In a statement following his arrest, ICE revealed that the rapper was actually from the United Kingdom and that he came to the United States legally on a visa in July 2005. The visa expired in July 2006 and Savage unlawfully stayed in the country. Savage later received help from Jay-Z and Roc Nation as he was later released from ICE custody. As of today, the case has not been fully resolved as Savage is still in a fight for legal immigration status.
During a recent appearance on My Expert Opinion with Math Hoffa, 21 Savage spoke about the arrest and revealed that Meek Mill had a hand in getting him legal assistance. “They detained me ’cause they said I had felony conviction, but the felony conviction got dismissed,” Savage explained. “And I called Meek while I was in jail and told Meek, ‘Bro, I just got locked up.’ [Meek] called Jay-Z, and Jay-Z put a lawyer on my case … [he] played a role in getting me out of there.” He then shared his gratitude for the help Jay-Z gave him to fight the case.
[Jay’s] ain’t just doing that shit for anybody, just ’cause you rap …,” Savage said. “It’s like you gotta be from a certain cloth … I don’t feel like he’s just doing that for anybody. I ain’t Roc Nation or any of that sh*t.”
The most recent update in Savage’s case came in April. His lawyer Charles Kuck revealed that a 2020 charge for possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm was affected his fight for legal immigration status. As a result, the immigration case was put on pause until the charges could be resolved.
You can check out the full episode of My Expert Opinion in the video above.
Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.