A Grammy-nominated rapper who built up an image of being brought up surrounded by drugs and guns on the mean streets of Atlanta is actually British, it emerged after he was detained by US immigration officers.

Rapper 21 Savage, who has long said he is from the US state of Georgia, was detained on Sunday and officials say he is from the UK and overstayed his American visa.

The news sent shockwaves through social media as the Grammy-nominated 26-year-old rapper - whose real name is Sha Yaa Bin Abraham Joseph - says he is local act from Atlanta, the capital of hip hop.

The rapper's lawyer Dina LaPolt said: "We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with the authorities to clear up any misunderstandings."

In an interview with Fader magazine in 2016, he paints a picture of a crime-ridden upbringing in Georgia.

The article references Joseph being brought up in "beat up apartments" in Atlanta, being shown his first gun at the age of eight by his "Uncle Dae Dae" and the rapper bragging about being the youngest pupil ever to take a gun to Stone Mountain Middle School in DeKalb County, Georgia, when he was 11 or 12.