21 Savage WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREETS?
21 Savage's WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREETS? stakes out a moody, minimalist zone where hustling and mourning coexist, and the critical consensus is ambivalent rather than celebratory. Across four professional reviews the record earned a 55/100 consensus score, with critics repeatedly citing late-album highs as the moments where grief and context break through the monotone delivery. Critics point most consistently to “CODE OF HONOR”, “GANG OVER EVERYTHING” and “ATLANTA TEARS” as standout tracks, praising their strings, samples and the emotional weight that offsets routine flexes.
Reviewers praise the album's atmosphere and candid reflection on street life, survivor's guilt and trauma, noting that tracks which foreground loss and reunion land hardest. At the same time professional reviews find the record uneven: minimalism and repetition sometimes substitute for shape, guest features can both spark and dilute momentum, and a handful of songs collapse into formless choruses or internet-drama posturing. Critics consistently observe moral unease over certain samples and occasional lapses into rote bravado, which keeps the collection from cohering into a definitive statement.
Taken together the critical consensus suggests WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREETS? is worth listening for its emotionally charged highlights and moments of Metro-era chemistry, but not without reservations. For readers asking whether the album is good, reviewers agree it contains essential songs amid inconsistency; the best songs on the record - particularly “CODE OF HONOR”, “GANG OVER EVERYTHING” and “ATLANTA TEARS” - make the album worth probing even as the whole remains uneven.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
CODE OF HONOR
3 mentions
"The grief refuses to loosen its grip on standout ‘Code Of Honor’, where keys, strings, and snares combine to haunting effect."— New Musical Express (NME)
GANG OVER EVERYTHING
4 mentions
"On the Metro Boomin -assisted ‘Gang Over Everything’, he confesses that his “heart got colder” after loss but is unable to function without “talkin’ to codeine”."— New Musical Express (NME)
ATLANTA TEARS
4 mentions
"he and Lil Baby rue the regression of the ATL rap scene in the wake of the YSL case on ‘Atlanta Tears’"— New Musical Express (NME)
The grief refuses to loosen its grip on standout ‘Code Of Honor’, where keys, strings, and snares combine to haunting effect.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
WHERE YOU FROM
HA
STEPBROTHERS
CUP FULL
POP IT
MR RECOUP
J.O.W.Y.H (JUMP OUT)
DOG $HIT
CODE OF HONOR
GANG OVER EVERYTHING
HALFTIME INTERLUDE
BIG STEPPER
ATLANTA TEARS
I WISH
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 4 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
21 Savage's WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREETS? leans into moody trap and stark lyricism, and the best tracks - “Code of Honor” and “Atlanta Tears” - are the reflective centerpieces here. The reviewer's tone is measured, noting stirring strings and soul samples that elevate those cuts. Guest turns register but do not displace the album's focus on hustling and internet drama. Overall, the album is consistent rather than revelatory, with a few standout moments that make it worth hearing.
Key Points
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The best songs, like "Code of Honor," stand out for their stirring strings and reflective soul samples.
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The album's core strengths are moody trap production, stark lyrics about hustling and pitched-in commentary on internet drama.
Themes
Critic's Take
21 Savage pushes his duality to the fore on WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREETS?, where the best songs - notably “Code Of Honor” and “I Wish” - balance menace with mournful reflection. The record does not reinvent trap, but tracks like “Where You From” and “Gang Over Everything” make the case that his monotone menace now contains weariness and confession. In the reviewer’s view, the album reads less like a manifesto and more like an autopsy, with standout moments turning trauma into stark, haunting songs. Overall, the strongest songs are the ones that let grief breathe instead of hiding behind bravado.
Key Points
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The best song, "Code Of Honor", is the album’s emotional centerpiece because its production and guest verse foreground grief and haunting reflection.
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The album’s core strength is its honest documentation of decay in street code and how grief and substance reliance mask survivor’s guilt.
Themes
Critic's Take
21 Savage sounds torn on WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREETS?, alternating between honest mourning and rote flexes, which leaves the album uneven. The review praises late tracks like “Code of Honor”, “Gang Over Everything” and “Atlanta Tears” as the best tracks on WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREETS?, where grief and context finally register. Conversely, songs such as “Where You From” and “Dog $hit” are singled out as examples of wasted time and weak choruses. Overall the best songs on the album are those late cuts that add emotional stakes rather than empty threats.
Key Points
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The best song is "Code of Honor" because it marries emotional stakes with a thrillingly ominous beat and honors fallen friends.
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The album's core strength is its late sequence that finally delivers grief and context, though much of the record relies on rote flexing.
Themes
Critic's Take
21 Savage arrives with WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREETS?, an album that leans hard into mood and minimalism but too often drifts into repetition. The reviewer's voice finds the best tracks in moments of reunion and heat, pointing to “Gang Over Everything” as a highlight and praising fiery features like Latto on “Pop It”. Yet tracks such as “HA” and “J.O.W.Y.H. (JUMP OUT)” are called out for feeling formless or unresolved, which leaves the project asking more questions than it answers. Ultimately the album works when Metro Boomin's chemistry returns, but the inconsistencies keep it from landing fully.
Key Points
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The best song, “Gang Over Everything”, succeeds because Metro Boomin's return rekindles the duo's creative spark.
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The album's core strengths are its moody minimalism and high-profile features, but repetition and questionable choices undercut its impact.