Meek Mill’s latest album Championships is a kind of watershed moment for the 31-year-old rapper. The project serves as the coda to perhaps the most harrowing chapter in the Philadelphia native’s life. It’s the imprint left from the weight of legal battles, judicial mistreatment, and simply surviving as a black man in this country. And at the heart of the project is the song “Trauma” — a four-minute survery of the many potential pitfalls riddling inner city black life.
Earlier today, Meek released the music video for the song. Directed by Willngo, the video is a montage of the heartaching conditions Meek describes throughout the song. Meek is depicted as a child, sitting next to a photo of his father, penning a letter that says, “I hope you come home soon.” He is also depicted as an adult stalking the alleyways of his past. Shots of police cruisers, dice rolling, and bullet casings hitting the pavement are interpersed throughout, recalling the cold realities of the world he sprung from and that many like him still live within.
Meek disparages the judge who many feel sentenced him unfairly, “Tryna impress them people in power when power abusin’ us / For 44 dollars a hour, you coward they using ya,” and he reflects on the wearing effect his decade-long entanglement with the judicial system has had on him, “11 years going to court knowing they might keep you or drive you crazy / 23 hours in a cell, somebody save me.” The video ends with Meek in a starkly furnished room, laying on his back, staring at the ceiling.
Meek will kick off his 16-stop tour in support of Championships on February 18 in Miami.
