Back when he was 22 Savage, Young 22's argument was that he -- not 21 -- was the real savage.

And he had a record to back it up. Further back when the Baton Rouge rapper/comedian went by Mighty Mike he caught a second-degree murder charge in an incident in which he was alleged to have shot and killed a rival during a dispute over party flyers.

22 claimed it was self defense and it looks like a grand jury has agreed, because they have declined to indict him on the murder charge.

Court this morning pray for the

A post shared by Young 22 (@xyoung22x) on Feb 22, 2017 at 7:58am PST

God is good 2nd chance at life shoutout to my team #tje

A post shared by Young 22 (@xyoung22x) on Feb 22, 2017 at 2:19pm PST

Big ups to my nigga #22Savage beating the murde case time to turn up on 21 wack ass now #dallas #houston #texas #like4like #s4s

A post shared by Sloppy Joe (@sloppyjoe_boogie) on Feb 22, 2017 at 3:20pm PST

He had also been charged with illegal use of a weapon and obstruction of justice. No word on where he stands with those.