Where has Meek Mill been? I miss that guy, plain and simple—I’d argue the rap game at large does too, even if they don’t realize it. My original draft of this had an intro that gave context to why I might feel that way, what with the pronounced emphasis on the legacies of rappers who blew up at the turn of the last decade because of everything going on with the Big 3 this year. But it’s not that complicated; I’m thinking about Meek because his presence in the wider hip-hop playing field was a valuable one. The industry is better when there’s a pugnacious, lyrically deft, unabashedly aggressive Philly MC in the mix (word to Beanie Sigel.) But as Meek’s releases have grown more random, his absence is that much more pronounced.
So where is Meek Mill? To paraphrase that great Jack Nicholson line from the 1989 Batman: “He’s at home, washing his tights.” These days the Philly spitter is more known for dropping instant-classic tweets and other assorted social media behavior than for classic records. You can cherry pick any one of his comments on the looming presidential election or Puffy’s trial, there are too many to choose from. Or how about his reaction to being confronted with the word neurodivergent? Most of these scan like someone who tweets first, asking questions that he could’ve reserved for his inner circle without considering how goofy it may make him seem. But it isn’t all bad—who can forget that time he flicked it up sitting with an orangutan inside a Wraith with an interior that matched his new friend’s fur?
Meek’s certainly living life, but he seems far removed from the center of rap relevance. Hip-hop fans can get jaded towards an artist when this happens, but there’s no erasing the run Meek went on in the early 2010s. Those first two Maybach Music Self Made albums, those first two Dreamchasers tapes, “House Party,” “I’m a Boss,” “Litty”—he had projects, and he had hits. When Uncut Gems set a scene at 1OAK, Howie walking in to “Amen” was pitch-perfect period soundtracking for a movie taking place in 2012. The freestyles were legendary, like this 2011 visit Meek and his Maybach Music Group crew paid to Funk Flex, where MMG boss Rick Ross eggs Meek on like a proud uncle. The intro to his debut album birthed an actual timeless record; the intros to all his subsequent projects that followed maintained that quality if not the ubiquity—please do yourself a favor and revisit “On the Regular,” the DC4 opener that is never far from my Recently Played.
Then revisit some of his loosies you may have forgotten, like “B Boy.” He proved he can kick storytelling raps, a crucial component in any well-rounded MC’s arsenal, with the “Tony Story” series. (“Part 2,” for the win.) He has a pretty good diss track, even if it came a year too late. And when that loss plus jail time stunted his momentum for a second, he came back in 2018 in a big way with his album Championships, which had the bangers, the album cuts and a show-stopping Jay-Z verse that still go to this day.
And then after that, Meek’s run just strangely trails off. Expensive Pain, the album that followed Championships, is very solid, yet it didn’t impact the same. After that, Meek voiced frustration with his label Atlantic Records and parted ways with Roc Nation management, and hasn’t released a long player since. A 2022 Flamerz 5 mixtape came and went. Beloved producer Knxledge’s five-year project marrying classic Meek freestyles to his own soulful production? Gone forever, over mysterious copyright claims that may have come from Meek himself. And he and Rick Ross restored the 2010s Maybach Music feeling briefly with a reunion collab project, Too Good to Be True but despite a pair of excellent singles, the full album ended up validating the title—it’s solid, but not much more.
