US immigration officers have arrested rapper Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, better known as 21 Savage, for overstaying his American visa.
The 26-year-old record producer based in Atlanta, Georgia came to the US in July 2005 aged 12 and failed to leave when his visa expired a year later, officials said.
The Grammy-nominated rapper who built up an image of being brought up surrounded by drugs and guns on the mean streets of Atlanta is actually British, Telegraph.co reports.
The rapper’s lawyer Dina LaPolt said: “We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with the authorities to clear up any misunderstandings.”
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman, Bryan Cox, told the local Atlanta Journal-Constitution outlet that 21 Savage is an “unlawfully present United Kingdom national” who entered the United States in 2005 on a visa that expired one year later.
The US agency also told the paper he had been arrested and later convicted for felony drug charges in 2014 – but at the time, the US Department of Homeland Security was unaware that he was in fact British.
According to the paper, 21 Savage was arrested in a “targeted operation.”
The artist, known for his conversational rap delivery and no-nonsense sincerity, released his debut studio album in 2017.
His lyrics touch on everything from drugs and violence to systemic racism and police brutality.
His album, “I Am > I Was” debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 in December 2018, holding the number one spot for two consecutive weeks.
