Meek Mill makes his Maybach Music major label debut.
Not many rappers in their mid 20s have been in the hip-hop game for nearly a decade. But, then again, not everyone is Meek Mill. Meek comes from a long and storied tradition of super-lyrical Philadelphia street rappers. By his mid-teens, he was climbing the notoriously difficult Philly battle-rap ladder and racking up thousands of YouTube views with lo-fi freestyles taped on street corners. Though he's earned the ire of a Philadelphia pastor from his Drake-assisted hit "Amen," Meek's mostly stayed out of trouble and stayed focused on making great rap tracks.
Watch Meek Mill perform "Burn," and watch Meek Mill music videos and interviews after the jump.
Throughout the late 2000s, Meek released what's probably the holy trinity of Philly mixtapes with his "Flamerz" series. (Flamerz being the uh, unfortunate, Philly colloquialism for a rapper or rap song that goes especially hard.) Meek's tapes caught the attention of T.I., and for all intents and purposes, Meek became part of the Grand Hustle camp. But it wasn't until 2010, when a tweet put Rick Ross on Meek's "Rose Red" remix, which led to the signing of Meek to Rozay's Maybach Music Group imprint, that his recent rise to the top of the rap heap took off.
Soon after joining up with MMG, Meek released his Dreamchasers 1 & 2 mixtapes, which have dominated hip-hop playlists the past two summers. These tapes have housed classics like "Ima Boss," "Tupac Back," and "Burn." And by the way, if you’ve been to a house party in the last eight months and "House Party" wasn’t blasted at full volume (like, twice), then that joint blew anyway, and you should find friends with more respectable taste in hip-hop.
This week, Meek Mill has his major-label debut, and it's essentially his victory lap, with features from boss Rick Ross, and serious names like Nas and Mary J. Blige. And he's even thrown "Amen" back on there so that Philly pastor actually has some physical copies of the record he can drive a steamroller over on the Ben Franklin Parkway. Hey, it happened to Jay-Z, and that's worked out pretty well for everyone.
Dreams and Nightmares is out tomorrow on Maybach Music Group/WMG. Pick up a copy and keep it on repeat for your trick-or-treaters this Halloween.
Meek Mill Featuring Big Sean, "Burn" (Live)
Meek Mill Featuring Kirko Bangs, "Young & Gettin' It"
On How Blood Hounds Helped Start His Career
On Recording Dreams & Nightmares
On Who'll Be Featured On Dreams & Nightmares
Photo credit: WMG
