21 Savage recently stopped by DJ Akademiks’ Off the Record podcast to speak on the recent deaths in Hip-Hop, his own paranoia, and dropping Her Loss with Drake.
During his interview, he revealed to AK that Takeoff’s recent passing was “the worst one” that he’d seen in his life. Because he has witnessed close friends get killed right in front of him and has himself been shot before, 21 says that he constantly moves in a state of paranoia as a famous rapper.
“I’m scared of everybody, ni**a,” he responded to Ak inquiring about his fears. “I’m not fu**ing Rambo … I’m scared of anybody— I move scared. Hell yeah I’m scared. Scared ni**as stay alive. ‘Cause I done seen it. I’m not one of them ni**as who just — I been shot. I seen my friend die in my face, on my birthday — in the car too.
“It ain’t like it’s like, oh we just standing on the block and a drive by happen. I’m talking about right here, ni**a,” he added. “He in the driver’s seat, I’m in the passenger seat type sh*t. So I know like, this sh*t get wicked fast. Like that. You know what I’m saying? So it’s like, I’m just paranoid always. 24/7 ni**a. I think somebody following me. I’m spinning the block a couple of times before I go in the house.”
Speaking to Takeoff’s character and his murder, 21 expressed that the Migos member was someone who was “not confrontational” and “really didn’t deserve that sh*t.”
“Takeoff was the type of ni**a like, if I see Takeoff arguing with a ni**a I know the other ni**a wrong, automatically,” he said. “He a man, he ain’t no bi**h, he just not confrontational. He like, in his own world, he just want to do what he do. You know? He not really like, in the way or in the mix. I ain’t never see him mad or with an attitude, or him out of character. He always was the exact same way every time I seen him. He gon’ smile, dap you up and mind his business.”
Alluding to the idea that many people will learn from this incident, he said: “But I feel like it was freak accident 1000 percent, but I also feel like it was an eye-opener…more so like, a lot of people gonna learn from this situation and realize a lot of sh*t don’t be worth it.”
Further in the conversation he said: “I don’t know if it’s ’cause I know him more than I know them, but this is one of them ones where it’s like, ‘Damn! Him?’ Ni**as say that every time, but he really one of them ones like, ‘Damn! What the f**k?’ Never gonna see him argue. If he fighting, he fighting to help his brothers. This the worst one that I’ve seen in my life where it’s like, a ni**a who really didn’t deserve that sh*t.”
The 28-year-old Atlanta rapper was murdered by stray bullets on Nov. 1 in Houston while at a bowling alley. 21 had a closer relationship with Takeoff out of the Hip-Hop trio and even explained his and Drake’s decision to go forward with the release of their joint album, Her Loss, following Takeoff’s passing.
“It was just so much going on, like so much negative, sad energy,” he said. “We was just like, maybe this will give muthafu**as a smile or a lift-up. Give the world a lift-up — something to look forward to. ‘Cause at first we was saying we was gonna push it back, but it was like, ‘Well, sh*t. What’s that gonna do? Just keep muthafu**as in this mind-state for a little longer?’ versus trying to move forward.”
Check out 21 Savage’s full interview with DJ Akademiks above.
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