atp - meek mill - dreamchasers review lyrics
meek mill’s first maybach release comes packed with high-quality production, competent lyricism, and his trademark energy. the defiant tone of his work reaches a fever pitch on this tape
most notably, it showcases a newfound ability to rap about street life from an introspective angle. sometimes
track one: intro (prod. by a one)
one of meek’s many bombastic introductions. this one is more about ambition than bragging, although the latter element certainly appears. it introduces his persona for the rest of the tape: a rapper/drug dealer who’s somewhat successful but has larger visions. the beat is enjoyably oversized
rating: 7/10 (good)
track two: get dis money (prod. by all star)
get dis money is more introspective than its t-tle would suggest, detailing monetary ambition and a struggle to escape poverty. the subdued hook and calm delivery shows that, despite what many people would have you believe, meek is capable of more than just yelling
rating: 7/10 (good)
track three: house party (feat. young chris) (prod. by tone beats)
the production on this track is extremely well-done. meek’s energetic delivery is also greatly appreciated, lending some flavor to its generic subject matter
young chris loses points for sounding like he has a clothespin on his nose
entirely predictable misogyny aside, this is one of his better club songs. it just doesn’t have much in the way of depth
rating: 6.5 (solid)
track four: ima boss (feat. rick ross) (prod. by jahlil beats)
this was actually a single on self made vol. 1
a return to street rap, ima boss is loud, grandiose, and sweeping. the beatwork on here is some of the best jahlil’s ever done, and ross’s verse adds some seriousness to its subject matter
on the downside, the hook is repet-tive and can get somewhat grating
rating: 8.0 (great)
track five: dreamchasers (feat. beanie sigel) (prod. by all star)
this is another song where hard work, not bragging, is the main focus of the track. the first verse has some stellar third-person wordplay about a drug dealer and his struggle to support himself and his daughter
beanie sigel’s excellent guest verse describes a hopeless existence of poverty and domestic abuse, both by his father and his sister. what really pushes the song into exceptional territory is the level of detail that both rappers employ, particularly beanie. it comes to life in a way that brings kendrick lamar’s soph0m-re album to mind
rating: 10/10 (masterful)
track six: tony montana freestyle (prod. by dj drama and will-a-fool)
this is just meek playing around. he raps about selling drugs, getting money, f-cking hoes, and shooting people. you’d think all that s-x would make him a dirty wh0r- too. well, somehow, it doesn’t. don’t ask why
lyrically, he does a pretty good job. however, the beat is inferior to house party’s
as a side note, meek would do well to pop oxycontin or roxicodone instead of percocet. percocet contains acetaminophen, which can and will f-ck up your liver if used too frequently or in too large of an amount. harm reduction!
rating: 6.5/10 (solid)
track seven: body count (feat. rick ross) (prod by. southside and tm88)
more solid wordplay, more standard gangsta bragging, and an uninspired beat. ross’s hook adds little to the song
it’s okay for what it is, it just doesn’t stand out in any way. it doesn’t have the excellent beat of ima boss, the narrative of tony story, or the emotion of middle of da summer. an all-around average song
rating: 5.5/10 (average)
track eight: tony story (prod. by jahlil beats)
this is a dark crime story, with no bragging anywhere in sight. it describes a gangster’s journey to avenge his cousin’s death by k!lling the criminal who murdered him. meek’s harsh but measured delivery and jahlil’s grim beat fits the song perfectly
some of his rhymes feel like they’re struggling to describe the more mundane details of his tale, but other parts more than make up for them. the manner in which he describes the protagonist’s loss and rage is particularly memorable
meek seems to be fairly proud of this track, and his satisfaction is warranted. even when describing its extravagances, tony story paints a bleak and depressing picture of gang life. dreamchasers would be worth listening to for this song alone
rating: 10/10 (masterful)
track nine: middle of da summer (feat. mel love) (prod. by the beat bully)
more introspective gangsta rap. meek delivers vivid lyrics over a nostalgic, reflective beat from jahlil’s brother
mel love’s verse is more self-congratulatory, but it shares some of meek’s dark themes
rating: 7.5/10 (good)
track ten: work (feat. rick ross) (prod. by lex luger)
the energy and production of this track places it well above body count. the core subject matter is identical, but this time he has a good beat backing it up
with his urgent delivery, one wonders why meek doesn’t rap about doing amphetamines. they’re certainly more fitting than alcohol or oxycodone
rating: 7/10 (good)
track eleven: realest u ever seen (feat. nh) (prod. by all star)
not much to say about this. it’s rather uninspired
rating: 5/10 (average)
track twelve: im me (prod. by tone beats)
see above
rating: 4.5/10 (ehhh…)
track thirteen: derrick rose (feat. mel love) (prod. by all star)
rappers seem to really like comparing themselves to basketball players. the hook here is amusingly overblown
aside from that, it’s about the same as the last two tracks
rating: 5.5/10 (average)
track fourteen: don’t panic (feat. rick ross and yo gotti) (prod. by
808 mafia and lil’ lody)
meek’s verse actually has some meaning beyond “imma sell them drugs and f-ck yo b-tch”, so he gets points for that. unfortunately, the beat sucks, rick’s ross hook is too slow and plodding for what it is, and yo gotti sounds like he’s in the middle of p-b-rty
rating: 4/10 (ehhh…)
track fifteen: sparkles (feat. young pooh)
another mediocre bragging song that i can’t really say much about. the first verse is about drinking too much. the second is about selling drugs and having s-x with a wide variety of women
fortunately, this mid-tape slump is about to end
rating: 5/10 (average)
track sixteen: love don’t live here (prod. by all star)
meek returns to storytelling with an atmospheric beat and a tale about family neglect and betrayal. the memorable second verse involves a drug-addicted teenage prost-tute who was molested by her stepfather. he finishes it off with a news report that ties into his third-person narration
it’s short, but it’s good
rating: 8/10 (great)
track seventeen: y’all don’t hear me freestyle (prod. by cardiak)
this is another street rap, but it actually has a fair bit of substance within its boasting. cardiak’s beat works well with meek’s delivery
his chess metaphor is wack, though. the king sucks almost as bad as a p-wn
rating: 7/10 (good)
track eighteen: i’m on one freestyle (prod. by kromatik, 40, and t-minus)
the energy and production of this track gives it some flavor, as does the drake sample. it’s certainly better than sparkles
rating: 6/10 (solid)
track nineteen: won’t stop (prod. all star)
the mixtape’s outro is a defiant, inspirational track. meek vividly details his struggles without ever sounding defeatist or whiny. all star’s beat is melancholy but hopeful
rating: 8/10 (great)
track twenty: n-ggas in paris freestyle (bonus track)
its production and wordplay makes this one of the better bragging songs on the tape
rating: 6.5/10 (solid)
track twenty-one: she likes it (bonus track)
as the only real love song on dreamchasers, she likes it is refreshingly free of blatant misogyny. however, his description of their relationship is still fairly shallow and materialistic. the song is also a little too short for my tastes
rating: 6.5/10 (solid)
conclusion
i really appreciate the depth and energy meek brought to this tape. counting the intro and the bonus tracks, about forty percent of its songs are about something other than straight bragging. a lot of them talk about hard work and struggle, which makes for far more interesting material than generic club rap
he ventures into third-person narration for a few of his tracks, with generally impressive results. tony story in particular might be the crowning achievement of his catalog
on the downside, dreamchasers loses a lot of steam after work. the middle of the tape is a five-song cl-ster of forgettable tracks with uninspired production and no real depth. it picks up again near the end, but less padding would have been nice
some of his rhymes could also use some polishing
all in all, dreamchasers is an impressive mixtape. it’s smarter than a lot of gangsta rap, though it still has a fair bit of glorification. i will happily admit to some personal bias, because i don’t listen to meek to hear about how much s-x he’s having. i can enjoy a bragging song if it sounds impressive enough, but an album needs more depth to stand out to me
underneath his boasting and misogyny, meek has something to say. that fact is more evident here than in any of his other mixtapes
final score: 8/10 (great) (four stars)
high-scoring tracks are given more weight than low-scoring ones, because the listener can easily skip to them
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