Landon Buford
21 Savage’s manager, Justin “Meezy” Williams, said that the Atlanta rapper and Drake never exchanged cash when they made music together.
During a lengthy discussion of the ongoing series of interviews in Druski Clubhouse room, the manager of 21 explained how Savage would often work with artists and would not even consider charging them.
“A lot of the artists, they are low-key peers,” Meezy said around the 15.40 mark. “So shit just be happening naturally. A n***a might be in the studio, somebody ask, ‘Ay, can you do this song?’ And it happens, because n***as fuck with each other, so you ain’t gonna talk about money.”
He added that it is prevalent among the artists who 21 frequently work with artists such as Young Nudy or Drake.
“Most of the time, when you bring up Drake or Nudy…if Nudy got a song, ain’t nobody even thinking about no paperwork if Savage get on something. Or if Savage send Nudy something, ain’t nobody thinking about paperwork. We know that’s going to get handled whatever,” he continued. “It’s relationship-based, a lot of times it’s like that.”
Meezy conceded that many rappers might need to pay for feature films early, at least as they build momentum, but usually, it’s nowhere close to a priority. “N***as ain’t paying each other for verses,” Meezy said. Later, Druski asked if someone as large as Drake even got a feature price. “I don’t know,” Meezy replied. “I think where he at he’s just choosing who he fucks with. I know anything we’ve ever done with him, there’s never been money involved, ever.”
Then he suggested it was “rare” for 21 Savage to be in the studio with other rappers these days. A lot of collaborations will be done separately, because when it’s too crowded in the studio, it can be easy for everyone to forget about working on music. As Meezy put it, they might just be “listening to beats and fucking off.”
As to who he wants to see 21 Savage work with in the future, he said Ari Lennox and Jay-Z are the two stars.
“That’s who I can name, personally, I ain’t him,” he said. “So he might have someone else. But I really would love a Ari Lennox hook with 21 Savage on his R&B shit, one of them love songs. And obviously, like, Jay-Z… that’s like the ultimate stamp. … That shit would be a big one, I ain’t gonna lie.”
You can listen to the whole Clubhouse interview here.
