By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN

(CNN) -- Rapper 21 Savage, whose musical persona revolves heavily around the drug and gang life he purportedly weathered coming up on the east side of Atlanta, is British and in the country illegally, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement told CNN.

The rapper, whose birth name is Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, is a citizen of the United Kingdom who entered the US legally in July 2005 and failed to depart under the terms of a nonimmigrant visa, ICE spokesman Bryan Cox said. His visa expired in July 2006, ICE says.

If his publicly reported birth date is correct, the 26-year-old rhymesmith would have been 12 when he came to the States.

5 things to know about 21 Savage

"Mr. Abraham-Joseph is presently in ICE custody in Georgia and has been placed into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts," ICE said in a statement. "ICE will now await the outcome of his case before a federal immigration judge to determine future actions."

Added another ICE official, "His whole public persona is false."

Lawyer says 21 'a role model to the young people'

In October 2014, Abraham-Joseph was convicted in Fulton County on counts of marijuana possession with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of certain felonies and manufacturing, delivery, distribution and/or possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. The rapper's representatives say the conviction was expunged.

Sunday's arrest, made public hours before the Super Bowl, was the product of a targeted sting, Cox said.

An attorney for Abraham-Joseph said his representatives were working to secure his release.

"We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with the authorities to clear up any misunderstandings," Dina LaPolt said in a statement.

Her client, she said, "is a role model to the young people in this country" and works to help underprivileged youth with financial literacy.

The Grammy-nominated rapper announced his "21 Savage Bank Account" -- named for the hit, "Bank Account," off his debut studio album -- on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" last year and said he was giving 21 kids $1,000 bank accounts.

"It's ironic because growing up in Atlanta, I knew almost nothing about bank accounts," 21 said in a March news release. "Now that I do have money in my bank account, I want to help kids with a background similar to mine to get smart about their money."

It wasn't the only time 21 referenced his Atlanta upbringing, and news of his arrest spawned a parade of Twitter memes, including one stating he wrote his rhymes with a feather quill. Another said when he rapped about having shooters, he wasn't talking about fellow gangbangers, but rather, British redcoats.

He's long claimed to hail from the A

The legend surrounding 21 -- crafted through his seemingly autobiographical lyrics, numerous biographies and interviews with "The Breakfast Club," Interview magazine, Fader magazine and others -- has lent the rapper enormous street cred.

As the story goes, 21 grew up in Atlanta with a Dominican mother and 10 siblings. Smart but a troublemaker, he was kicked out of the DeKalb County School District, which covers most of Atlanta's east side, for gun possession before doing time at a youth detention facility.

After finishing a semester of ninth grade in an alternative program, he dropped out of school, joined a Bloods-affiliated gang and began a life of weed dealing and crime.

In a 2016 interview with DJ Booth, 21 recalled losing his younger brother in a botched drug deal and grew "cagey" when asked about being shot six times when he was 21 years old.

"When he's out of earshot, one of his friends quickly shares with me the version of the story he'd always heard," DJBooth reported. "That a deal turned into an attempted robbery. That there were two assailants. That (his best friend) Johnny got shot in the head. That Savage, wounded, tried to shoot back. That afterward he shut Johnny's eyes, got out of the car, closed the door, lit a cigarette, and waited nearly 30 minutes for the ambulance to come.

In his music, 21 regularly references his time in Atlanta's traps, the areas where drug deals are commonly conducted, and claims to hail from the city's Zone 6 -- home to Gucci Mane, Childish Gambino and 21's Epic Records labelmate, Future. A painting of 21 Savage -- partially made of foil blunt wrappers -- hangs prominently in rapper T.I.'s Trap Music Museum in Atlanta.

In "Bank Account," he raps that he is "straight up out the 6." In "asmr," he rhymes, "Drive-by? Naw, we the walkup gang/I come from the 6, where they chalk up lames" and later declares, "Gold grill mouth/ I come from the South."

He began rapping in 2013 and was largely considered part of Atlanta's robust underground hip-hop scene until 2017 when his studio debut "Issa" hit No. 2 on the rap charts and he collaborated with Post Malone on the award-winning track, "Rockstar."

21's latest album, "I Am > I Was," was released last month and spent the first two weeks of 2019 atop the Billboard 200.