The Rundown: Meek Mill, Dreams and Nightmares
A track-by-track look at the MMG rapper's much-hyped debut.
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The Rundown: Meek Mill Dreams and Nightmares - Another week, another rap rookie trying to live up to the hype. Just a week after Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d. city blew away critical and commercial expectations, Meek Mill steps up to the plate with his much-hyped debut, Dreams and Nightmares. He’s already landed a handful of hits from his work on his Dreamchasers mixtapes (“Amen”) and Maybach Music Group's Self-Made series (“I’ma Boss,” “House Party”). It’s quite a past to live up to. Does he succeed? Click on to find out with The Rundown, a track-by-track analysis of Meek Mill’s Dreams and Nightmares. —Alex Gale (Photo: Maybach Music Group)
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"Dreams and Nightmares" - Meek Mill hits a home run on the first pitch with the title track. The song—and album—opens with a pensive piano line and no drums (get used to that; it’s a recurring theme of the production throughout the album) and Meek going aspirational. It’s the “dreams” portion of the title. But a third of the way in, the “nightmare” starts: The beat switches on a dime to a minor key, with the pretty pianos giving way to evil pizzicato synths and mean-mugging, Lex Luger-inspired 808s and hihats. Meek starts rapping about murder, mayhem and back-stabbers (also an album theme). Musically, lyrically and conceptually, it sets the bar sky-high. (Spoiler alert: That ends up being a bad thing.) (Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for BET)
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"In God We Trust" - Meek Mill gets another fastball in his wheelhouse here. Following up on the album opener’s nightmarish second half, Meek raps—though yell might be a better word for it—about the evils that money inspires over a frenetic beat by the awesomely named Black Metaphor. Meek keeps the adrenaline level rushing, and you don’t want him to stop. (Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
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"Young and Gettin' It" (feat. Kirko Bangz) - Meek Mill fouls the ball off his foot here, the first major hint that the album may not live up to the stratospheric expectations sparked by Meek’s past work, or even its own amazing first track. Perhaps inspired by guest Kirko Bangz, Meek inexplicably chooses to rhyme though Auto-tune on the verses. We already have one Future, we don’t need two. (Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for BET)
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"Traumatized" - Meek Mill gets back on track by revealing a new talent that he hinted at on Dreamchasers: story-telling. After all the bravado of his early work, the vulnerability here is refreshing and touching, and shows a new side of Meek that’s worth exploring more. He raps about the dark side of the street life he often glorifies, rapping about the man who killed his father: “You ripped my family apart and made my mama cry, so when I see you n---a it's gon be a homicide / 'Cause I was only a toddler you left me traumatized / You made me man of the house, and it was grindin’ time." (Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)
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"Believe It" (feat. Rick Ross, Nas and John Legend) - We’ve heard this song before, from “Pacman” on Self Made Vol. 1 to “Black Magic” on Vol. 2 to “911” on God Forgives I Don’t. The big 808 basslines, the stuttering hihats, the dramatic synth strings, the undeniable Lex Luger influence, and of course, Rick Ross’ monstrous presence—they’re an MMG staple. But even with the Bawse himself on the hook, and some of Meek Mill’s most animated, riot-inciting rhymes, there’s nothing to separate this song from its similar-sounding predecessors. (Photo: Brad Barket/PictureGroup)
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"Maybach Curtains" (feat. Nas, Rick Ross and John Legend) - Meek Mill successfully turns the volume down here—not every song can blast at 11—without sacrificing quality. The luxe, cinematic beat is all Maybach, filled with strings, saxophone, live bass and drums that sound like the closing score to a Don Johnson TV movie (that’s a compliment), which Meek, Rick Ross and honorary MMG member Nas ride slickly. John Legend, as is sometimes his tendency, overcroons dramatically, but hey, better him than Maybach O. (Photos from left: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images, Rick Diamond/WireImage for BET Network, Johnny Nunez/WireImage for 2K Sports, Fernando Leon/Getty Images)
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"Amen" (feat. Drake) - Meek Mill’s hit of the summer, featuring Drake, makes an encore appearance after debuting on Dreamchasers 2. In between the album’s theatrical sturm and drang, it’s a welcome light and happy moment, even if we’ve heard it a million times before. (Photo: Courtesy of MMG)
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"Young Kings" - Meek Mill blasts back off here, living the dream over a triumphant Lee Major-produced anthem, perfect for riding around in helicopters, screaming out of limo sunroofs and other Maybach Music Group–approved activities. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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"Lay Up" (feat. Rick Ross, Wale and Trey Songz) - Obviously Meek Mill can’t spend an entire album talking about North Philly streets, but this song makes it particularly clear that saccharine seduction songs just aren’t his lane. With Ross, Wale and Trey Songz in tow, this will no doubt be on the radio—partly ’cause it sounds like everything that’s already on the air. (Photos from left: John Ricard / BET, Frank Micelotta/Getty Images for BET, Moses Robinson/Getty Images for BET, Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Trey Songz)
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"Tony Story Part 2" - Meek Mill recovers when he gets back to his newfound strength for street storytelling. Backed by a dramatic keyboard line and subtle sound effects (rain, windshield wipers, gunshots), Meek sets the scene here, one of bloody betrayal, perfectly. (Photo: Maybach Music Group)
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"Who You're Around" (feat. Mary J. Blige) - Meek Mill and Mary J. Blige—who’s had her own experiences with loved ones turning on her—follow up “Tony Story” with another song about double-crossing and deception, but it lacks the gut-punching, paranoid heft of its predecessor. (Photos from left: Bennett Raglin/Getty Images, Steven Lawton/Getty Images)
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"Polo and Shell Tops" - Meek Mill sounds great over these dramatic piano lines, but after three other songs with similar openings, it almost borders on overkill at this point on the album. Still, beats like this are like spinach for Popeye—Meek even makes up for the Auto-tune misadventures of “Young and Gettin’ It” with his sung hook here. (Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
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"Rich and Famous" (feat. Louis V) - Meek Mill misses the mark when he veers off topic yet again with more ostensibly for-the-ladies radio fodder. The undeniably douche-y hook, “sung” by Louie V, brings back Ron Browz’ worst moments of the late 2000s. We thought we were past those days, people! (Photo: Maybach Music Group)