Mediocre production value meets overly ambitious lyrics in Meek Mill’s first major-label release, Dreams & Nightmares. Fittingly titled, this “meh” album forages into the oft-explored “I’m rich, now let’s reflect on how I used to be a drug pusher” theme.
Yet Mill’s distinctive style of sentimental-poetry-meets-trap-rap comes at the appropriate time. Well fashioned in Dreams & Nightmares the deep divide between conscious rap and gangsta rap is becoming an increasingly blended genre.
The release comes from Rick Ross’ label, Maybach Music, notorious for imperial beats, new slang, and lots of drug references. Dreams & Nightmares certainly remains on this leash, and yet distills something distinctly Meek Mill. In a perfect example, “In God We Trust,” Mill talks about the “love of that money” over Hollywood-thriller violins and horns.
In the album’s title track, Mill decides to go Kanye and rhyme “this” with itself: “I used to pray for times like this, to rhyme like this / So I had to grind like that, to shine like this.” As he laments his hard, dirty work, we’re soothed by heartfelt piano keys and some orchestral strings. The beat, midway through, bursts into intense bass-banging as Meek begins to yell angrily, giving himself commentary and repetition in echo-y reverb. The song successfully lays ground for more sentimental-cum-murderous tones.
“Believe It” might have the best production value on the entire record. Unsurprisingly enough, it features Ross himself using Disney pop star-drug-money metaphors. “Sellin’ Miley Cyrus in my brand new Monte Carlo / I got that Justin Bieber please believe it,” Ross brags, perhaps calling ecstasy “Miley Cyrus” and wads of cash “Justin Bieber.” Other features also tend to be more braggart and look-at-me than contemplative of the old days. Drake is on “Amen,” a song which somehow uses church as a metaphor for killing and having sex—of course, over organs. “Maybach Curtains” features Nas, John Legend, and Ross once again on an explosive ballad with real drums, guitars, and soulful keys.
With Ross’ obsession with drug money—his name even coming from that of a famous drug dealer—Meek Mill’s release on Maybach Music was bound to be full of dealing stories and self-lauding. But Mill’s whole persona is based on leaving the trap game and earning Audemars by rapping. Dreams & Nightmares does not stand up to the fun dialect of 2 Chainz, or the intellectual ethos of Kendrick Lamar, but it does secure a particular aesthetic of blending fame with reflection that comes at the right time.
