Championships Album x Meek Mill

Meek Mill is my favorite rapper because he raps with emotion based off what he’s been through, he’s one of the realist I know. Meek Mill has got a lot of things to say. His fourth studio album “Championships”, is his first full-length release since he served five months in prison. An 18-track album with an all-star cast of hip-hop artists, it is real, confident and completely uncompromising. Themes of prison reform, black oppression and injustices against the marginalized run throughout. Though some songs stray, sounding like loose threads, it feels like Meek’s making up for lost time rather than just producing for streaming numbers, and he comes back fighting: ‘Championships’ cements the Philadelphia artist as one of the best in the game. Championships is my favorite album out right now.
“Uh, my mama used to pray that she’d see me in Yale, It’s messed up she gotta see me in jail,” he raps on the opening bars on my favorite song “Trauma”, and sets a marker. He’s going to talk about his jail-time and he’s not going to mince his words: “How many times you send me to jail to know that I won’t fail, Invisible shackles on the king, cause s***, I’m on bail, I went from selling out arenas, now s***, I’m on sale”. After his high-profile court case and prison sentence, Meek’s become a mainstream icon for prison reform; here he doubles down on this, getting Jay-Z to dust off the mic and join Rick Ross on “What’s Free” to discuss capitalism and income inequality over the well-respected Notorious B.I.G ’What’s Beef’ sample.
Songs like “100 Summers”, “Almost Slipped”, “Respect The Game” and “Going Bad” spotlight other artists while reminding listeners of Meek’s prodigal talent, and the featured artists help elevate the album. Anuel AA’s verse on “Uptown Vibes” needs to be played through a few times, Melii is introduced as an emerging talent on ‘W.T.S’, Ella Mai’s turn on ’24/7’ is sure to get listeners hooked, while soulful RnB track “Dangerous”, with PnB Rock and Jeremih, begs to be listened to with your arms wrapped around a significant other. It’s amazing to me how Meek thought it through to still include other artists on his first album since he’s been imprisoned. This showed me that he wants everybody to win.
Championships showcases Meek’s obsession to do Philadelphia, his fans, his listeners, his family, his friends and his cohorts in the rap game right. The result is an album that merges beautifully from party anthems to vulnerable confessionals. The production is tight and cohesive even when songs like “Pay You Back” and “Splash Warning” feel unnecessary. Meek is angry but eloquent; he allows himself to be emotional, admitting how prison scarred him. A stand-out project, “Championships” may not slip into people’s end of the year lists, but it’s a statement of intent. You have to really know Meek’s story to understand where he’s coming from.

I had a chance to personally attend this album’s concert back in March of 2019 and it was a night I’ll always remember. Through Meek’s performance, you can tell that he’s passionate about what he raps about. I truly believe that he is going to continue to rise and elevate to higher heights.