Grammy-nominated rapper 21 Savage has been arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials who believe he is a UK national.
Authorities said the 26-year-old Atlanta-based musician entered the US legally in 2005 as a minor but failed to leave under the terms of a non-immigrant visa, which expired in July 2006.
The rapper, whose real name is Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, is in ICE custody in Georgia for “removal proceedings”, reports The Guardian.
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The music industry has been stunned by the allegations against the rapper, who has “previously described a childhood in Atlanta during interviews”, says the BBC.
According to reports in the US, Savage was arrested early on Sunday morning after a car in which he was travelling with fellow rapper Young Nudy and two other men was pulled over by Atlanta police.
Nudy, whose real name is Quantavious Thomas, and two other men were arrested for reasons unrelated to Savage’s immigration status, reports CBS News.
Music magazine XXL adds: “Apparently, federal agents were actually conducting an operation targeting Nudy and the other suspects not named.”
The officers subsequently ran Savage’s name through the police checks system and then handed him over to ICE officials.
His place of birth has not been confirmed, “although some listings named it as Dominica, a former British colony - his mother Heather is reportedly of Dominican origin”, says The Guardian.
In an interview with Fader magazine in 2016, Savage claimed to have been expelled from school in Atlanta aged about 12 or 13 for taking a gun to class.
His raps “have mostly painted pictures of a violent upbringing in Atlanta surrounded by drugs and guns - something which up until now nobody had questioned”, says the BBC’s Kameron Virk.
“But his arrest by ICE and links to the UK have definitely left people in the city confused,” Virk continues.
A CNN reporter quoted an ICE spokesperson as saying: “His whole public persona is false.”
Savage’s lawyer, Dina LaPolt, told entertainment website TMZ that her team were “working diligently to get Mr Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with authorities to clear up any misunderstanding”.
She added: “Mr Abraham-Joseph is a role model to the young people in the country, especially in Atlanta, and is actively working in the community leading programmes to help underprivileged youths in financial literacy.”
Savage features on the song Rockstar by Post Malone, which was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Rap Performance at the Grammys. The track reached No.1 in the charts in both the US and the UK.