I don’t know where to start with this article, this story is so convoluted and has so many parts to it that can be difficult. Yet, this album already is a candidate for album of the year let me get that out of the way. Many people were skeptical or did not know how this body of work would come out but damn near perfect is one way to put it. Let me start with the track everyone knows by Meek, the title track from the album “Dreams and Nightmares”.
This album came right after Meek’s classic mixtape project “Dreamchasers 2”, which was throroughtly debated by my friend Rob and I on our podcast “The Blackprint Podcast”.
Not only did Meek put out a dope mixtape with plenty of features such as Kendrick Lamar, Fabolous, 2 Chainz Big Sean. His label mates Rick Ross, and Wale made appearances on the album as well. Meek was able to put out a good album with his biggest song. The rapper also continued to show his story telling ability with “Tony Story Pt. 2” as well. You could say Meek was on top of the world, but one day after his album dropped he was arrested. Meek had was takeninto custody by the police and had to miss a club appearance he scheduled for that night. A deal that was worth $2 million-dollars with Puma went down to $650,000 due to his tainted image in. This would start Meek’s long feud with his appointed judge, which to this day is still on-going.
While Meek’s career was heading in the right direction, his own artist was shotand killed in 2013. Louisiana rapper Lil Snupe was the victim during an altercation. On June 20th of that year his life was takenfrom him. Lil Snupe was only 20 years old and had dropped a project called “RNIC”, which stands for “Real Nigga in Charge”. The southern rapper had so much potential and was on the rise. Not only was he able to be lyrical, his story telling was outstanding. Snupe was also able to freestyle off the top better than a lot of rappers. On “Dreamchasers 3” Meek created a dope track which was an homage to his protege titled “Lil Nigga Snupe”. It’s so sad to see a young man’s life taken away especially when they had all the talent in the world. This young man was on the correct path to make a difference not only in their lives but the lives of others as well. With a lot of Louisiana rappers coming up such as Kevin Gates, NBA Youngboy, and Fredo Bang, it’s hard not to think about where Lil Snupe would’ve ended up. All we can hope for is that he is always remembered, and his dream is keptalive.
R.I.P Lil Snupe
By the time Meek was on his second studio album, he had been in and out of court to see the judge over parole violation. The rapper was even sentenced to jail in 2014 this time longer than a couple of days. The Philadelphia native went in during July and came out in December in time for Christmas. Things looked like they were turning around for Meek. He was out of prison, dating Nicki Minaj, and his album “Dreams Worth More Than Money” dropping June of 2015. Life looked good for the rapper but out of nowhere a beef between him and Drake started. Even though the two collaborated on the song “R.I.C.O”, Meek dropped a bomb on twitter. He stated that Drake didn’t write his verse on the track. A battle rapper named Hitman Holla spoke to Drake about the feud on instagram. The Toronto rapper responded with “I signed up for this. This comes with it”.
Right after that tweet we got two Drake diss tracks within a week of each other. Although we only remember one, “Charged up” and “Back To Back” shook the culture and the internet world. Meek dropped “Wanna Know” but it didn’t have the same effect as Drake’s diss tracks. Aubrey showed his penmanship and his ability to be harsh with his words. That is until Meek “War Pain” dropped January 30th. To this day it is still a debate over why the beef started but sometimes that’s not the point. It’s annoying to see friends who actually like each other in the rap game go at. It as we’ve seen it so much in crews and cliques before. Compared to previous years 2016 was a quiet year for the rapper as he did not drop and album. The constant back and for with the Judge did not stop at all though. The judge sentenced the rapper to house arrest for 90 days for prior altercations. This was without any trouble and the rest of the year there was no real news on him going to court.
The album “Wins and Losses” is a perfect title for Meek Mill and encapsulated everything going on in his life. Although 2016 was quiet, 2017 would be a year filled with turmoil for the rapper. The problems started early in 2017. A tweet from his now ex-girlfriend Nicki Minaj stated that she was single. Meek did not say anything the entire time. This could have been because he was working on his album and wanted to put what he was feeling in his music. Meek did it again and made a very versatile body of work. One that was dope but for some reason did not have as much replay value for me as I had wished for. The stigma of the last beef still stained the rapper it seems, and it felt like this album came and went. Jokes were still being madebut those were about to stop. Meek would fight for his life again in court against the Judge and things got strange this time around.
Meek had two charges in 2017, one before his album dropped and one after. Both were droppedand, but November of that year Meek was sentencedto 2 to 4 years in prison by judge Brinkley. Meek was in trouble for his run ins with the police and law enforcement. Although the two charges were dropped, the judge felt it was enough to imprison the rapper. If you’ve ever heard Meek speak in a negative way of the judge this is why. Here’s where things get crazy and interesting. Meek’s bail had had been denied by, the judge due to the allegations made by the rapper. Meek believed the judge had it in for him and wanted to see him in jail. The FBI offered Meek a chance to record her through wiring and a microphone but he denied. The judge threatened to sue Meek which is rare. She felt as if his allegations were wrong, outlandish and painted her in a bad light. The whole time Meek is in prison going back and forth with his attorney’s attempting to get him released from jail. The attorney’s found out the cop who had stopped Meek in 2008 was caughtfabricating arrests that same year. Everyone thought this could have been it and Meek would be free but, his would not be the case.
Even the District Attorney was not opposed to accepting Meek’s bail. It seemed now, like it had before that the judge was the only person who was in the rapper’s way when it came to his freedom. Everyone was rooting for Meek and were waiting for his anticipated release date. People were also rooting for his city as well Philadelphia where the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Although Meek was in prison his song was still used by the team as their motivation to win the championship. Shortly after things started to look up in Meek’s favor, after the D.A. recommended his release on April 16th, 2018 he was releasedon the 24th of April 2018.
In the coming weeks and moths Meek would fight to get the judge removed of his case on several occaisions. Him and his team attempted gave evidence to show the juge had been unprofessional the entire time. This battle is still going on and we’re on his side all the with it. No matter what jokes come up online or have been madejail is not a joke. Being convicted without reason is no laughing matter as someone’s freedom is being taken away. This will be a major theme in his next album that dropped not even 2 weeks ago.
Let me start by saying if you doubted Meek before this dropped you were wrong. If you though he lost it or doesn’t have it in him anymore and that it would be lackluster you were wrong. It’s important to believe he artist will come in killing their project and put everyone to shame. I don’t know if it was the name of the album, or the cover of the album but I will always give the benefit of the artist. I want the project to succeed and the artist to win. This is exactly what happened and why Meek delivered his best album to date and his most important. This was it, Eagles won, beef with Drake is over, Meek is free, and nothing is in his way between him and his music. When I tell you I’ve listened to this everyday it’s not an understatement. This album is very powerful and shows everything he is going through. We sometimes forget that artists lives are the same as ours and go through ups and downs like ours too. No matter how much money you have your freedom can be takenaway as we’ve seen many times with Meek. I loved this album so much that I wanted to do a review the week it came out but I decided against it and it was to my better judgement.
The song that has everyone talking is “What’s Free”. It features Rick Ross and legendary MC Jay-Z. Everyone loves the verse, Heather B of Sway in the Morning even called it verse of the year. The bar that had everyone talking was about Kanye West. Everyone was talking about how Jay dissed Kanye and his stance of being an ally to Trump. All the blogs were running with this, Jay-Z had to tweet out a response to it all and say what the line actually meant. which wasn’t as much of a diss as everyone made it out to be. This is why I wait and give time to albums before I review them because we need time to digest them. We need time to listen to them over and over so we can understand what the artist meant or was trying to do with it. Jay’s tweet sparked Kanye to reply with “Throne 2? 🤷🏾♂️” which has yet to be repliedto by HOV, knowing him he’s most likely plotting and talking behind the scenes instead. Aside from the controversy this song is a masterpiece and is close to perfect. Ross’ verse, Meek’s dealing with the law, and HOV speaking on freedom of African Americans and how we were enslavedis a recipe for an incredible song.
All the features did a good job even though we got a lot of Meek alone on the record which is never a problem or a worry. This album coming in late like this usually is not the best for some artists as we start to do our year end wrap ups. For Meek it is not a problem as this album should and will be in heavy rotation for a long time. The beats on this album are perfect and match his rapping style and ability so well that it’s almost scary. This could be an east coast bias but these are some of the best beats I’ve heard all year. Even though a lot of them are samples the way the producers and engineers were able to flip it is amazing. It doesn’t seem like he’s copying anyone but adding his own style to it. Meek does what he does best and goes in talking about his upbringing on those soulful records. The record “Championships” has that amazing saxophone in it. “Respect The Game” is a famous sample of Lonnie Liston’s “A Garden of Peace”. “Cold Hearted II”, a continuation from the album “Wins and Losses”, talks about dealing with fake friends. Although a lot of that song is him speaking, it’s so real and from the heart that no one should mind it.
Meek and Drake were also able to mend their relationship. While on Drake’s tour he brought Meek out to perform and we now find Drake on Meek’s album on the song “Going Bad”. “Pay You Back”, “Stuck in My Ways”, & “With the S***s (W.T.S)” are very similar. These are the other type of records that fall on the project those that are closer to others that are out now. They will be playedin the club a lot or in people’s cars full volume with the car bass blaring and being obnoxious. But it’s Meek so it’s understandable 🤷🏾♂️. This album has everything and as a fan of Meek going back to Dreamchasers 1. I’m proud of his progression and how far he’s come as well to becoming a better person in life. I’m also very happy that he has music that is able to match his progression.
STANDOUT TRACKS
If I’m being honest every song on the album shoulders play value because of how cohesive it is. These are the five tracks that caught my attention the most.
- ★“INTRO”
- ★“WHAT’S FREE”
- ★“RESPECT THE GAME”
- ★“CHAMPIONSHIPS”
- ★“COLD HEARTED”
To show Meek’s growth and his belief for new Prison reform, he posted a PSA and speaks about the severity of it. The New York Times posted this video that everyone should view to understand his message.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000006204524/meek-mill-criminal-justice-reform.html
