Rapper drops album despite recent struggles

Meek Mill uses “Championships” to open up about his life experiences

Philadelphia Rapper Meek Mill dropped his long-awaited album this month, despite being just released from jail. Though rapper Meek Mill has gone through many trials, he continues to strive in the industry and remain a champion. 

The good: Meek Mill kicks off “Championships” with the song “Intro,” which starts off with him sampling Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” and then smoothly transitions into him dropping fire bars. 

Mill incorporates old school rap with the current rap style and includes artists from Cardi B and Drake to Fabolous and Jay-Z. The use of old school rap was genius and definitely made this album stand out from his other albums. 

The album was supposed to be about his life experiences, and he did not stray too far from the theme. He uses his voice to speak out against issues that he feels have affected his life. In his song “Trauma,” he references the 13th Amendment and current events,“In the 13th Amendment, it don’t say that we kings, they say that we legally slaves if we go to the bing, they told Kaep’ stand up if you wanna play for a team, and all his teammates ain’t saying a thing, If you don’t stand for nothing, you gon’ fall for something.” 

Meek is known for his hot bars and energetic beats, and this album did just that. He did not venture too far out from his comfort zone and kept it quite classy and mature. 

The bad: Everyone that listens to Meek Mill knows his flow, the energy and great delivery is what all fans are used to. With a 19-song track list of him low-key doing the same thing over and over, it got a bit boring and became background music. Most of the songs, I believe, were not needed at all. I would much rather have nine-song track list if that meant all the songs were good. Lastly, I think this album was rushed. Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t horrible, but a part of me feels like he only dropped an album because he was worried about the longevity of his career. 

Overall: I’d give this album a 6/10. It was not too flashy, which I enjoyed, but I also feel like he did not showcase his abilities well.