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21 Savage: Atlanta rapper 'arrested by US immigration force'
Atlanta rapper 21 Savage has been arrested by immigration officials who say he is actually from the UK, reports say.
The rapper, Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, came to the US in July 2005 aged 12 and failed to leave when his visa expired a year later, officials said.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesman said he was being held for removal proceedings.
The 26-year-old's Wikipedia page says he is from Atlanta.
It says he grew up around criminality, dropped out of school and began to rap after the death of a friend.
A CNN report quoted an ICE spokesman as saying: "His whole public persona is false".
Other reports quoted ICE as saying that the rapper was being held in the state of Georgia and a federal immigration judge would determine whether he would be deported.
US website TMZ quoted his lawyer Dina LaPolt as saying she was trying to get the rapper out of detention "while we work with authorities to clear up any misunderstanding".
"Mr Abraham-Joseph is a role model to the young people in the country - especially in Atlanta, Georgia and is actively working in the community leading programs to help underprivileged youths in financial literacy," she added.
In December the rapper released his second album, I am > I was, which went to the top of the Billboard 200 albums charts.
The same month he apologised for a lyric in one of his songs that mentioned "Jewish money".
It followed a similar apology by NBA star LeBron James, who had shared 21 Savage's lyric on his Instagram account, where critics drew attention to it.
21 Savage said he was "sorry if I offended everybody".
The Jewish people I know are very wise with there money so that’s why I said we been gettin Jewish money I never thought anyone would take offense I’m sorry if I offended everybody never my intention I love all people
