Morgan Freeman is an esteemed actor and well-known for his deep, slow voice, which has made him one of the most iconic voices as well as faces in Hollywood. His acting career has seen him star in legendary films such as Seven, The Shawshank Redemption and The Dark Knight, cementing his status as a cinematic hero.
Furthermore, Freeman received an Oscar and Golden Globe award and, in 2008, a Kennedy Center Honour. However, the thespian has also been involved in hip-hop and in 2020, Freeman notably surfaced as the narrator of 21 Savage and Metro Boomin’s album, Savage Mode II.
Freeman previously appeared on the intro of the pair’s 2016 EP, on which he narrates, “Great men with great ideals can be separated by hundreds or even thousands of miles and still be in the same place.”
That said, after he appeared on Savage Mode II, Freeman spoke to GQ about why he chose to appear on the album. Explaining how he wanted to leave the “nice guy” roles behind, Freeman stated, “What happens is you sort of get locked into a position.”
He continued, “Henry Fonda was in it, Spencer Tracy was in it, James Stewart was in it, even though he played a couple of bad guys. You don’t really don’t want to be cast into a mould, but after a few years, it’s bound to happen.”
As such, he unveiled that he was happy to take the offer as it was outside of his comfort zone, detailing, “Every [offer] that’s outside of what you consider [your] mould is fun to do. I got to jump at it.”
Although many may see Freeman and 21 Savage as worlds apart, the actor revealed to GQ that he actually gained respect for the rapper after reading the lines for Savage Mode II. Opening up about his feelings, Freeman told the publication, “I read the copy and was like, ‘Wow, there’s some wisdom in here.’ I think this is the way I think. It’s basically saying don’t suffer fools, and when you want something, go for that.”
He added, “If [Savage’s music] is a young people thing, then this is stuff they need to be aware of. So it’s a good thing to do.” On the LP, Freeman defines what separates a snitch from a rat on the ‘Snitches & Rats’ interlude. His skits were recorded on his iPhone from home and were written by Atalnat legend Big Rube of the Dungeon Family. Rube has also penned lyrics for OutKast, Cee-Lo Green, Killer Mike, Bubba Sparxxx and more.
