Patriarchy and fragile masculinity strike again, and weāre honestly so exhausted.
In the last few years, 21 Savage has become one of the most well-regarded hip-hop artists in the music industry. Rappers like Drake, Cardi B, and J. Cole have been singing Savageās praises for years now, which led to a collaborative album with Drake, Her Loss, released in 2022.
On Monday, Dec. 18, Savage was revealed as the new cover star of Rolling Stone. During his interview for the story, Savageās right-hand woman, Buwop, and his manager, Meezy, were present as the rapperās entourage. At one point, Buwop asks why male R&B artists no longer serenade women in their music. Savage replies:
āYāall b*tches some h*es now. Nobody singing to yāall. Everybody sell pussy. Aināt nobody to sing for.ā
Given that the topic of gender comes up naturally, Rolling Stone journalist Mankaprr Conteh takes the opportunity to ask Savage about his friendship with Drake.
āI feel like describing male friendships is zesty as hell,ā Savage tells the writer.
Screengrab via Urban Dictionary
Conteh takes that moment to explain that āzestyā can be used as a derogatory term to mean āgayā and/or āfeminineā within this context. The Urban Dictionary description for āzestyā is āthe definition of someone that appears juicy and flamboyantly homosexual.ā
In reaction to Savageās suggestion that describing his friendly and professional relationship with Drake could be considered āzesty,ā Conteh brings up the existence of āunneeded parameters around men and the way we expect them to express love or care or friendship.ā
āItās needed,ā Savage quips back. āThatās what separates men from women.ā According to Conteh, Savage goes on to explain why gender norms are useful, how emotions should be reserved for women, and how men should always apply logic to their conflicts.
The Rolling Stone writer tries once again to suggest that all partners ā regardless of gender ā in a relationship can work together to balance each other out. Savage tells Conteh in response:
āI get what youāre saying, but I donāt agree with it. Well, I agree with most of what youāre saying. I just feel like the man supposed to be one way and the woman supposed to be one way.ā
This excerpt from Savageās latest Rolling Stone cover story has already gone viral on social media. As expected, many people are reacting to Savage doing so many mental gymnastics in order to reaffirm his masculinity (which no one was questioning in the first place) and avoid having to say anything āzestyā about his friendship with Drake (with whom he recently dropped a collaborative album).
