Music
Dreams Worth More Than Money
Philly MC stacks bullhorn flows, urgent imagery to the sky
Meek Mill is one of hip-hop’s most powerful brag machines, hollering blunt-force boasts with desperate energy and uncut brio. His second LP begins with the epic “Lord Knows,” where he furiously rhymes about his underdog climb to the three-comma club over a Mozart sample. Meek has a flair for internal wordplay (“Mommy was a booster, Daddy was a shooter/So they couldn’t blame me when I went and copped the Ruger/Looking at my homey, see the ghost of Freddy Krueger”). But his best moments are scary in a different way: “In my city we talk heavy and die young,” he raps on “The Trillest.” It’s a message that booms out louder than life.