21 Savage, the heartbreaker.
On Monday (April 29), he released a glamorous new video for “Ball w/o You” that serves up two scoops of the lavish life and a sad dose of reality at the end, making for a dark twist that you won’t see coming. But hey, that’s life. And sometimes, you really have to ball without the person you came up with. And 21 Savage shows just how that’s possible in this simple and cold visual.
Not even Elsa from Frozen‘s heart could be colder than that of 21 Savage, the imposing, dark shades-wearing figure in this video. While a woman, presumably his ex, goes out of her way to show that she’s having the time of her life in a night club through the flash of Snapchat and Instagram cameras, the story taking place between each flash is that of loneliness and a lack of control. She sneaks off to the bathroom in a drunken daze trying her best to take alluring pictures, only to pass out. 21 Savage’s words soundtrack this sad defeat of oneself. She did him dirty; now she has to attempt to portray a lifestyle that he’s actually living.
In her next appearance, she’s in front of a large, lavish home in a temperate climate. She takes pictures in front of the locale and the clear sky with various poses all featuring her beautiful smile. The camera zooms out and shows that her bags are packed. She’s just been kicked out of it. Whether it’s an Airbnb or a home she lived in, it’s left deliberately unclear. At the same time, we see 21 Savage’s lavish home and the fruits of his labor. He’s relaxing. He’s good. And that’s what makes this woman’s attempts at showing off hurt much worse.
“Ball w/o You” appears on 21 Savage’s 2018 album I Am > I Was. It follows the previously released video for “A Lot” with J. Cole.
Check out the chilly visual up above.
