Atlanta rapper 21 Savage has been arrested by US immigration officials who say he is actually from the UK.
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 in the country illegally and a convicted felon.
In previous interviews, Abraham-Joseph has described a childhood in Atlanta.
The 26-year-old is also quoted as saying he was expelled from school in Atlanta aged about 12 or 13 for taking a gun to class.
The ICE spokesman said Abraham-Joseph was convicted of drugs charges in 2014 and arrested on Sunday in a “targeted operation”.
He clarified that when the rapper was first arrested, ICE was not aware of his immigration status.
The UK Foreign Office told BBC News: “Our staff are in contact with the lawyer of a British man following his detention in the USA.”
Abraham-Joseph’s lawyer, Dina LaPolt said: “We are working diligently to get Mr Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with authorities to clear up any misunderstanding.”
She said he was a “role model” due to his work on financial literacy programs with underprivileged youth.
BBC