So is it a movie? Or some kind of music video experience? Those questions have been swirling all day ever since rapper 21 Savage teased…well, something, called American Dream: The 21 Savage Story with Donald Glover and Caleb McLaughlin. I don’t know if this is a true answer or not, but a trailer for whatever that project is has dropped. Whatever it is, it’s going to be a star-studded affair. Watch for yourself.
As you saw, the American Dream begins with the Lionsgate logo so it suggests a movie. But then, the whole thing plays out like a video, albeit a starry one with Glover, McLaughlin, Natasha Lyonne, Jabari Banks, Victoria Pedretti, Chad Lindberg,Young Mazino, Druski, and Gail Bean appearing. Behind the camera are Donald and Stephen Glover, Jamal Olori, and Fam Udeorji.
Glover and McLaughlin are playing different versions of 21 Savage, as well, which again sort of suggests a narrative feature. The apparent film will center on 21 Savage’s incarceration by ICE, thanks Donald Trump, in 2019 and threatened with deportation. 21 Savage was raised in Atlanta but born in the U.K.
Frankly, I don’t know a lot about 21 Savage. Is he prone to this sort of gimmick to drum up attention? Whatever this thing is, the buzz is undeniable and that means this marketing gamble has been a success. The trailer says to watch for it to drop on Independence Day, so we’ll have to wait and see if American Dream is real or not.
