Meek Mill – “Indie Pack” review

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania rapper & songwriter Meek Mill preluding his 6th album with his 8th EP. Starting out in the battle rap circuit before T.I. briefly signed him to Grand Hustle Records. Once he left, Rick Ross brought him over to Maybach Music Group & we’ve seen a handful of ups & downs in his career over the past decade. The critically acclaimed Dreamchasers mixtape series, his beef with Drake & who could forget where he was sentenced to 6 years in prison by a corrupt judge only to be released 5 months later?Championships was seen as his most mature body of work yet despite being a tad bit bloated, fulfilling his contractual obligations for Maybach & Atlantic Records with Expensive Painto divisive reception. Coming off Heathenism & Who Decides War?, the next phase of his career is being teased via an Indie Pack only a couple days succeeding what would’ve been the 45th birthday of BJWジュニアヘビー級王座, 3-time CZW World Tag Team Champion, JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion & ROH World Tag Team Champion Trent Acid.

“Save Yourself” open with a bland instrumental talking about the fact that everybody can’t be saved because all of us weren’t meant to make it whereas “How Far We Came” works in some decent sampling feeling prideful of his successes. “Free Smoke” speaks of people talking shit behind his back wanting to see him dead & “4th of July in Philly” featuring Fridayy finishes with both of them cooking up a mediocre Independent’s Day anthem.

Before I get to my closing thoughts regarding Indie Pack, lemme just say that I’m very happy for Meek Mill getting off a major label & becoming fully independent. However, he hasn’t had a consistent body of work since Championships & this EP unfortunately continues towards the same trajectory as Expensive Pain. Clearly there’s a lot less pressure on him now that he doesn’t have to worry about appeasing record executives anymore, but his production choices are getting worse.

Score: 2/5

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Meek Mill & Rick Ross – “Too Good to Be True” review

This is a brand new collaborative full-length LP between Miami Gardens rapper & Maybach Music Group founder Rick Ross as well as his biggest signing in Philadelphia’s very own Meek Mill. Both of whom have been working each other for over a decade at this point including songs like “Ima Boss”or “2Pac Back” & “Believe It”. It’s been quite a while since we’ve heard these guys collaborating but to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of them reuniting, they’re giving back by teaming up & it’s Too Good to Be True.

“Shaq & Kobe” featuring Damian Lillard & Shaquille O’Neal is a decent hardcore hip hop/pop rap opener to the album referencing current AEW manager, WWE Hall of Famer & former SMW Heavyweight Champion Jake “The Snake” Roberts whereas “Star Island” works in some synths & hi-hats from ATL Jacob talking about having a palace at the titular location. “Go to Hell” goes for a luxurious sound courtesy of Cool & Dre reminding that the real recognize real leading into the bombastic “800 Karats” discussing that they’re the biggest bosses.

Fabolous comes into the picture for the vulnerable “Dead Last” produced by TM88 & a hook from Vory admitting that they feel a certain way towards those who be talking behind their backs, but then the instrumental on “They Don’t Really Love You” is a bit disappointing despite the subject matter addressing fake love. “$1M Trap” has this eerie atmosphere in the background mixed with some hi-hats of course throwing a party in the penthouse just before the exuberant “Grandiose” produced by Murda Beatz flexes with 2 bad bitches in the club tryna go up.

DJ Khaled heavily samples “Tha Shiznit” throughout “Above the Law” the point where it just gets annoying on impact even though I accommodate theme of the untouchables being unable to be touched while “Fine Lines” featuring Wale talks about how our lies scar so deep to the point where we can’t uncross things & the beat here is just ok, but I’d still take it over what Khaled did on that last track. “Gold Medals” encourages not to let anyone try to tell you what your place is over a groovy instrumental from Hitmaka & BongoByTheWay while the soulful trap hybrid “Iconic” advises to Never look at pussy from a bitches point of view.

“Lyrical Eazy” hooks up some keys & hi-hats bringing hardcore bars for only a minute & a half while “Pillow Talk” reps the gang over a revitalizing beat from both Tay Keith & Cubeatz. “Millionaire Row” feathering French Montana set out for more money over a born-laced trap instrumental boasting they were poppin’ Teslas before meeting it’s CEO Elon Musk & to end the album, “In Luv with the Money” is this enjoyable Ross solo cut with Southside behind the boards dedicated to the bread.

I’ll admit I wasn’t too sure about how I was gonna feel about this album since the singles were mostly average & that I wasn’t a fan of Meek’s previous album Expensive Pain all that much from a couple years ago. Surely enough, Too Good to Be True is one of the better mainstream collaborative efforts I’ve heard in a while & a decent debut under gamma.’s new distribution deal with MMG. Although the production can be spotty at times, the chemistry’s there & the features are tight.

Score: 3/5

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Meek Mill – “Expensive Pain” review

Meek Mill is a 34 year old MC & songwriter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who started out in the battle circuit before T.I. briefly signed him to Grand Hustle Records. Once he left, Rick Ross brought him over to Maybach Music Group & has continued to make himself at home over there to this day. Throughout the last decade, we’ve seen a handful of ups & downs in his career. The critically acclaimed Dreamchasers mixtape series, his beef with Drake & who could forget where he was sentenced to 6 years in prison by a corrupt judge only to be released 5 months later? Meek’s last album Championships was seen as his most mature body of work yet despite being a tad bit bloated but after 3 years of singles & EPs, he’s finally following it up with his 5th full-length album.

“Hate on Me” kicks things off with Cardo sampling the Nas joint “Hate Me Now” as well as Meek going at his detractors whereas “Outside (100 MPH)” gets boastful over a more darker instrumental with a bassy switch up during the final verse. “On My Soul” contains a sumptuous Fuse beat with Meek talking about getting everything leading into Lil Baby & Lil Durk going back & forth with him on top of a Bulgarian sample for “Sharing Locations”. The title track has a moodier sound talking about the shit he went through with this money just before “Ride for You” serves as a boring attempt at a lovey dovey radio hit.

“Me (Fuckin’ With Me)” has a skeletal Boi-1da instrumental as Meek & A$AP Ferg saying no one’s on their level, but then Moneybagg Yo tags along for the uneventfully-produced “Hot” bragging about being those dudes. “Love Train” has a more lush sound to it with Meek venting about people switching on him while “Northside Southside” with Giggs murkily gets on their gang shit.

“We Slide” with Young Thug emotionally opens up on the struggles throughout their lives with a perfectly suiting piano instrumental from Tay Keith whereas “Tweaking” almost has a boom bap flare to it saying he’s too rich to pay hoes referencing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. I think it’s pretty cool how “Love Money” works in some guitars talking about how he doesn’t love the paper anymore & “Blue Notes 2” with Lil Uzi Vert serves as an average sequel to the Dreamchasers 4 cut of the same name.

“Angels” is an emotional tribute to the late Lil Snupe just before finishing off the “Cold Hearted” trilogy with the hazy “Cold Hearted III”. The penultimate track “Halo” despite it’s nondescript production opens up about knowing too many angels & the 30 Roc-produced “Flamerz Flow” ends the album with a hungry freestyle.

As much of a fiery comeback Championships was, I didn’t really expect much from Expensive Pain given that most of the singles were mid. Lo & behold: That mediocrity carries it’s way onto the album. You got barely more than half of it being straight up bangers & the rest is just completely forgettable.

Score: 3/5

Meek Mill – “Quarantine Pack” review

This is the 6th EP from Philly’s very own Meek Mill. Starting out as a battle rapper, he later became a protege of Rick Ross & signed to Maybach Music Group in the 2010s. We’ve all watched this man have a series of ups & downs throughout his career from his critically acclaimed Dreamchasers mixtapes to his beef with Drake. However a couple years ago, he was freed from prison after a corrupt judge sentenced him to 6 years in November of 2017 & made a triumphant return with his 4th album Championships. But with a new full-length in the works, Meek is preluding it by dropping a Quarantine Pack.

“Middle of It” compares himself to Richard Porter over a trap beat with some heavy bass & a flute while the next song “Pain Away” with Lil Durk sees the 2 talking about money relieving them of their stresses over a slow instrumental from S1. “GTA” with 42 Dugg finds the 2 talking about how there’s certain things that don’t need to be said over a hyphy beat & then the closer “Think It’s a Game” talks about a homie who turned his back on him over a spacious instrumental.

Personally, this is a decent collection of songs & I’m curious to hear how all 4 of them play out in the context of Meek’s next album whether he puts it out in the next month or in 2021 once this whole pandemic begins to sort itself out at least. I mean he definitely took is time with these joints & I appreciate that to the highest degree, but there’s not much else to it beyond the production feeling like a significant step down compared to Championships.

Score: 2.5/5

Meek Mill – “Championships” review

Meek Mill is a 31 year old rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who started out as a battle rapper & then became a Rick Ross protege at the beginning of the decade. He’s had a series of ups & downs throughout his career from his critically acclaimed Dreamchasers mixtapes to his beef with Drake & an unjustful conviction last November (for which he was freed in April of this year). Meek made his official return to the music scene with his 5th EP Legends of the Summer but as the end of November has approached, he’s coming back with his 4th full-length album.

The intro cut on here ferociously claps back at those who prayed on his downfall over a flawless sample of the classic Phil Collins song “In the Air Tonight” while the next track “Trauma” touches down on racial injustice over an ambitious trap beat. The song “Uptown Vibes” with Fabolous & Anuel AA talks about people who try to steal their waves over a latin-infused beat while the track “On Me” with Cardi B gets raunchy over a generic trap beat. The song “What’s Free?” sees Meek alongside Ross & JAY-Z explaining what freedom is to them over some strings & hi-hats while the track “Respect the Game” is essentially about how becoming rich has impacted him personally over a trap beat with a prominent piano sample.

Future, Roddy Ricch & Young Thug appear for nondescript party anthem “Splash Warning” while the title track talks about beating the system over a jazzy beat. The song “Going Bad” with Drake sees the 2 flexing for old times sake over a bass-heavy keyboard instrumental from Wheezy while the track “Almost Slipped” is an awkward ballad about how he almost fell in love with a hoe. The song “Tic Tac Toe” sees Meek charismatically bragging over a triumphant Tay Keith instrumental while the track “24/7” is a smooth sex anthem with a clever sample of Beyoncé’s “Me, Myself & I” throughout.

“Oodles O’ Noodles Babies” recalls his upbringings over a soulful beat while the track “Pay You Back” with 21 Savage sees the 2 talking about how they have shooters referencing WWE Hall of Famer Arnold Schwarzenegger over an apocalyptic Wheezy beat. The song “100 Summers” talks about his mother & his friends over a mellow Hit-Boy instrumental while the track “W.T.S. (With The Shits)” with Melii is a concept joint about this girl frontin’ on him over an instrumental that sounds like it could’ve landed on Lil Pump’s self-titled debut.

The song “Stuck in My Ways” talks about how he’ll always be chasing that paper over a spacious trap beat from Cardo while the penultimate track “Dangerous” with Jeremih originally appeared on Legends of the Summer & it still sounds as corny as it did when I originally heard it back in July. The album then finishes with “Cold Hearted II”, which serves as a fantastic sequel to the closing track off of Meek’s 2015 sophomore album Dreams Worth More Than Money with a sample of “I Was Never There” off of The Weeknd’s latest EP My Dear Melancholy,.

I’ve been a little harsh on Meek’s recent output for the past couple years or so, but I have to be fair & say that Championships has to be the most consistent project I be heard from him in quite a while. Probably his 2nd best album behind Dreams & Nightmares. He’s at his most mature for the good amount of the time on here telling the world about his experiences & issues with social justice, even if there are only a small handful of moments that felt completely unnecessary.

Score: 3.5/5

Meek Mill – “Legends of the Summer” review

“Millidelphia” begins by triumphantly rapping about over an explosive trap instrumental from Swizz Beatz whereas the next song “Dangerous” featuring Jeremih & PnB Rock wastes some acoustics for cliché pop rap lyricism. The penultimate track “1am” is an energetic club banger with a bouncy instrumental from Jahlil Beats & the closer “Stay Woke” is arguably Meek’s best song I’ve heard in a long time talking about the justice system.

There’s no doubt my mind that Championships has the potential of being Meek Mill’s most mature musical statement & this 4-pack he drops off in preparation for it seems to be heading toward that route. The production’s a little 50/50 & I’m hoping that he’ll get that figured out with in the coming months but in regards to Meek’s own performances, he’s a lot more passionate than he was on Wins & Losses the previous summer.

Score: 3/5