It’s extraordinary because of how Meek’s urgency mounts, his volume gradually increasing before he erupts into unbridled adrenaline. It unfolds in two acts: Meek chronicling his ascent over somber keys before reveling in the success no one expected from a kid from Berks Street, as the beat abruptly turns sinister. The “Dreams and Nightmares (Intro)” is an intense juxtaposition of extremes: being stuck at the bottom, then rising to the top against the odds. READ: Court Clerk In Meek Mill Case Fired After Asking Rapper To Pay Son’s Tuition But for Meek Mill, the opening statement of his 2012 debut album, Dreams and Nightmares, will forever be regarded as his manifesto. What’s perhaps even more rare, however, is for an intro to become arguably that artist’s signature record. 2.” Also, for a more radio-ready, alternative listen, try “In God We Trust.”īest Listened To: During any given car ride.It’s uncommon - and, typically, unfortunate - for an intro to be celebrated as an album’s defining moment. The Best Song Wasn’t the Single: It was “Tony Story Pt. Meek Mill bears so much potential, yet the album’s riches and circles-flaunting moments only seem to stand in his way. But in its entirety, Dreams And Nightmares can be a frustrating listen. The still-young rapper then reestablishes that he’s only getting started, with compelling glimpses into his Philadelphia upbringing. The reason why: Whoever was at the soundboard cued the telltale Maybach Music Group shout-out (“M-m-m-m-m-maybach Music”), thinking he was finished. Halfway through the album’s title track, Meek Mill sharpens his breath and heavily pants through his verses, as a once-serene piano starts scrambling. “Maybach Curtains” features Rick Ross, John Legend and Nas, and it’s all-hands-on-deck approach sounds better suited for the latest Maybach Music Group compilation.Įlsewhere, on the banger “Believe It,” Rozay huffs and puffs through a chorus that overshadows Meek Mill’s own lyrical sprinting: “Selling that Miley Cyrus from my Monte Carlo / I got that Justin Bieber, please believe it.” Cameos like these may seem the requisite signs of success for a rap newcomer, but on Dreams And Nightmares, the seemingly obligatory John Legend chorus feels like a crutch that Meek Mill doesn’t need. In the slower, sultrier “Lay Up,” Trey Songz delivers a painful extended metaphor of a chorus: “She be trying to lay up all night / but I swish, I don’t miss.” Wale fumbles, horribly, as well: “In her body, in her head / like, quote-unquote.” Meek exits that cut early. It’s when others step in that Dreams And Nightmares starts to slip.
And when he’s rapping of trusting no one, Meek Mill is smart enough to tell these stories himself, without anyone else interfering. Meek Mill often spins stories of betrayal, the catchiest example being “In God We Trust” (as in, “Fortheloveofthemoney, Fortheloveofthemoney”). “You made my mama cry / so when I see you n-, it’s gonna be a homicide,” he spits. And in “Traumatized,” the MC leaps from local stages (where he stood) to the casket (where his loved ones lay), before he weaves a hook of his vengeful intentions, to whoever shot his father. 2,” the sequel to his Dreamchasers rap fable, Meek Mill acts as a street war correspondent, his voice growing shrill as he relays details of an increasingly heating pursuit. The best moments of Dreams And Nightmares - and there are plenty - are when Meek Mill counts his losses, not his riches. Now, here on his proper debut Dreams And Nightmares (out today, October 30), Meek Mill delivers his most personal and promising material yet, only to have its impact diminished by moments that simply serve to fulfill some mainstream-rap-album quota.
He rapped to a Rozay chorus in his first hit “Ima Boss” and pissed off a north Philadelphia pastor with his second hit “Amen” (a song in which he praised bottle service and women). Like Nas immediately after Illmatic, though (see: his transformation into Nas Escobar), Meek Mill soon had to face the money-throwing, devil-may-care standards of mainstream hip hop - in the Philly rapper’s case, the standards implemented by Maybach Music Group head Rick Ross. (A choice sample: The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air theme song, as heard in “Philadelphia Born And Raised.”) The rapper spat out his street tales with a squeak in his voice and plenty of urgency -both huge giveaways of just how young, then 23, and inspired by Illmatic he was. On his 2010 mixtape Flamerz, Meek Mill proudly boasted of his affiliations to T.I.‘s Grand Hustle label, and his once-humble Philly roots.
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