Meek Mill

Why he matters

Robert Williams was born in South Philadelphia in 1987 and raised in North Philadelphia. One of his uncles, Grandmaster Nell, was a pioneering DJ in late-’80s Philadelphia who influenced DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith. As a teenager he battled under the name Meek Millz and filled notebooks late into the night. He and three friends formed the Bloodhoundz, burned their own CDs and handed them out.

Solo, he built a mixtape trail: The Real Me, the Flamers series, then Flamers 3 with DJ Drama in 2010. Rick Ross signed him to Maybach Music Group in 2011, the same announcement that brought in Wale. The Dreamchasers tapes followed, and Dreamchasers 2 was downloaded 1.5 million times on DatPiff in six hours. Dreams and Nightmares came out in October 2012 and debuted at No. 2, with “Amen” featuring Drake as the lead single.

He followed with Dreams Worth More Than Money in 2015 and Championships in 2018, both debuting at No. 1, and founded his own label, Dream Chasers Records. Nas co-signed him before the debut and appeared on “Maybach Curtains.” Plenty of rappers can shout. Meek’s gift is that his shouting gets more precise as it gets louder.

What a working rapper can take from it

Write the turn. The title track on Dreams and Nightmares opens on piano and strings, then the beat switches halfway and he goes from celebrating to raging about where he came from. It was never a single, and it still went double platinum. A verse with a real change in it, of tempo, mood or perspective, sticks. The verse-writing guide has drills for building one.

Hand-to-hand still counts. The Bloodhoundz bought blank CDs and jewel cases and got friends to burn copies. The tools change; the habit of getting music directly into people’s hands doesn’t. The streaming release guide covers the modern version, but keep the hand-to-hand instinct for your own city.

Treat the road as studio time. While promoting Dreamchasers 2 on Drake’s tour, Meek put a studio on his bus and recorded two or three songs a day. You don’t need a bus. A laptop, an interface and a decent mic in a quiet corner will do, and the first-setup guide covers the basics.