![]() ![]() Niggas die on top of winter, cause them kids need them toys Locked in cages, have ’em fighting over cookiesĪnd lunch trays, just happy them days ain’t never killed ’em ![]() On the fourteenth track, Meek rapped about his rise, in a sequence that is among the best of his career: His subsequent mixtape, Dreamchasers 2, was excellent. It looked like the kid who rapped on Berks Street was going to have mainstream success for a long time. “Tupac Back,” on Self Made Vol 1, was a hit. In 2011, he signed with Maybach Music Group. Then, he decided to go in a different direction. Because of a seven-month jail stint, Meek’s album failed to come out. (He had a good relationship with the legendary DJ Drama.) His music was similar but different - already animated, but staccato where he’d later let his voice run wild. It’s as synonymous with Meek’s career as the Philadelphia Eagles coming out to “Dreams And Nightmares.”Īround 2009, Meek found a home at T.I.’s Grand Hustle Records imprint. Legal trouble would continue for him, both due to mistakes and system overreach. My blood was on the ceiling, on the floor,” Meek would later tell writer Ben Detrick of Billboard. “I had a concussion, braids ripped out, stitches. When he was 18, Robert Rahmeek Williams, the youngest of two children, was arrested, then beaten profusely, by two Philadelphia police officers for having an illegal firearm. ![]() To see him dancing like that was to see the company he keeps now and how foolish he looked while hanging with the ruling class. Meek wasn’t supposed to be that guy who danced for his white friends he was the lieutenant on one of the most successful Black labels to come out in years. The aforementioned video of Meek Mill bunny hopping around for his rich white friend would have been troubling in a vacuum, but it was even worse seeing how far we’d come from Meek riding around Philadelphia on dirt bikes in the video to “Ima Boss,” the exceptional “Lord Knows” soundtracking a training montage in Creed, or “Dreams And Nightmares (Intro),” which crossed over without compromising an inch of its intensity. He’s a bear: “No love, cry when only babies die/ And when I go, that casket better cost a hundred thou’.” Meek is simple but effective: “They say they gon’ rob me, see me never do shit/ ‘Cause they know that’s the reason they gon’ end up on a news clip.” Ross’ verse – still one of my favorites from that era – is a classic in his canon of middlebrow luxury rap. “Ima Boss,” from the MMG compilation album Self Made Vol 1, was a Jahlil Beats staple – all sirens, no musicality – but it was also a showcase for how excessively successful Ross had become versus how rich Meek was trying to become. What was undoubtedly true, though, was how good they sounded together. He’s helping to change that, and for many, their long nightmares may become dreams of hope.To call Ross a liar in his music was reductive. He’s been able to have a major positive impact by bringing much needed attention to how an act of a teenager that gets into the system can haunt them forever. Kids like my son who were 11 got to watch as Meek grew into an extremely impactful person who with huge support from the likes of Jay-Z, former Sixers minority owner Michael Rubin, and even Robert Kraft. Meek Mill becoming one of the faces of criminal Justice reform was not something I think he or anyone would have seen in 2012, but the importance of it is no less impactful. That includes high-profile relationships and beefs, but most importantly, his battles with the criminal Justice system. Meek Mill the man has been on an almost separate journey in the 10 years since his debut release. While there are a lot of Dreams and Nightmares still in Meek’s music, the evolution to him now is evident, the core of his being is visible on this record still. 2” are more stories reported from what Meek had recently been able to leave behind. Songs like “Amen” featuring Drake and “Maybach Curtains” with Nas and John Legend are celebrations of his new success, while songs like “Tony Story Pt. The album, now 10 years old, definitely feels like a reflection of a young man dealing with newfound fame and fortune that is still just removed from a life of extreme hardships. If you put “Dreams and Nightmares” on at any bar in the city, folks will sing the lyrics at the top of their lungs. The song itself has become a Philly classic along the lines of “Summertime” by the Fresh Prince and “What We Do” by Freeway as songs that everyone in the city knows by heart. In the ten years since it’s release, Meek, the song, and album have all taken on much deeper meanings in the culture. On February 4th of 2018, as the Philadelphia Eagles warmed up on the field in Minnesota for the Super Bowl, they rallied around what became their team’s anthem, the intro to Meek Mill’s seminal album Dreams and Nightmares.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |