21 Savage Knows How To Intrigue The Internet
You may or may not recall that in 2019 Atlanta Hip Hop artist 21 Savage was arrested by ICE for overstaying his visa. Fans had no idea he was an immigrant born in London because he was so synonymous with Atlanta. The confusing news resulted in pop culture becoming more interested in the artist, who up until that point had been lumped without much distinction alongside other emerging talent in Atlanta. For anyone watching, it was also a clear moment in the power of subverting audience assumptions to drive social intrigue. And that approach is the backbone of how the artist has been rolling out new music, and apparently maybe a movie, this week.
The campaign kicked off top of week with a simple announcement that new music would be released Friday. A day later, a “teaser trailer” for a 21 Savage biopic rolled out on the artist’s Youtube page. Wrapped with Lionsgate branding, starring Donald Glover, and casting revealed across Caleb McLaughlin of Stranger Things, Natasha Lyonne, and even viral comedian Druski. There may be a movie on the way, but what if this is just a music campaign behaving like a theatrical release? The asset has outlets covering the news like a real talent-led movie campaign, but it’s actually not really clear if there is a film on the horizon from Lionsgate. The stunt feels a little similar to when the artist and Drake teased themselves featured on an upcoming Vogue cover which turned out to be fake – and resulted in Condé Nast asking them for $4m.
As the new year kicks off, this stunt and campaign roll out is a point of inspiration for entertainment marketing broadly across not just Music, but also TV and Film. Not unlike the result of his confusing ICE arrest years ago, 21 Savage’s use of purposeful confusion in this week’s campaign has proven to be an effective way to intrigue the internet to dive deeper. And perhaps by marketing music like a movie with A-list casting, the campaign stretched beyond the boundaries of music news to become a much bigger pop culture story.