You’ve all seen the memes: The consistent running joke that Meek Mill yells so much on tracks that he probably has to stand across the room from the mic when he records. Or that his voice is so strong that Drake heard that diss track through his window before it ever got to Funk Flex.
To be fair, the man does yell a lot. To be even more fair, that’s far from all he does and he’s been putting in serious work for more than five years now. Just check out “In My Bag” to see him with a completely different style.
But, like I said, the man does holler a hell of a lot and we’re going to take a look at some of his loudest songs to reinforce the running joke.
Note: Be sure to turn down your headphones and/or speakers because we are in no way liable for ruptured eardrums or damaged equipment.
“Dreams and Nightmares”
You haven’t lived until you’ve been at a party and watched everyone instantly drop whatever they were doing and turn into pure, unadulterated chaos all at the same exact moment. I’m not talking about when a song first comes on and it takes people a few seconds to catch on. Whenever “Dreams and Nightmares” comes on, everyone knows they have about a minute and a half to either get to a safe place or get to their friends because sh*t is about to get real once the beat changes up completely.
“Amen”
Man, a lot can happen in three years. We went from Drake and Meek featuring together on a radio hit with Jeremih and now we’re here. While “Amen” isn’t a nonstop onslaught on your speakers, that may actually be worse than the other songs on this list because it catches you by surprise every few seconds.
Note: It says a lot that the ad-libs are almost on the same level as the lyrics.
“In God We Trust”
In “In God We Trust,” off of Meek’s debut studio album, he mentions that he’s seen his fair share of people cry and fold once they feel a bit of pressure. Part of me thinks this came after he gave them a verbal lashing of his own and they buckled at the knees.
“Ima Boss”
Meek’s opening bars on “Ima Boss” were the first lyrics that a lot of people heard from the Philly MC – another thing that didn’t help his image as a walking megaphone – and they couldn’t have been better. Straight to the point and in your face. They’re loud, intimidating and can make anyone feel like a boss after hearing it enough times.
“Indian Bounce”
“Indian Bounce” came in a time where Meek Mill was still fresh formed, but being shaped into the artist we now know him as. You can even listen to the track and see how he still hasn’t mastered his hyperactive delivery and sometimes loses his breath and the beat. But I guess intimidation was more of a priority here.
“Levels”
Even the video to “Levels,” directed by the legendary Hype Williams, isn’t safe for high-quality headphones. It starts off with machine gun fire and shows clips of Meek popping wheelies on ATVs in the streets of Philly. If you’ve never been in Philly as someone zooms by on a dirt bike late at night, consider yourself lucky and enjoy the extra sleep you got. Everything this man does is on maximum volume.
“House Party”
There ain’t no party like a Meek Mill party ‘cuz a Meek Mill party leaves you deaf for two days. His song about his crazy escapades at a lively kickback makes you look back on all of the ones you’ve been to and wonder why your friends are so lame in comparison. To be fair, Meek’s partygoers in the video include French Montana, Rick Ross, Twista and even the Twerk Team. There’s really no catching up to that without breaking at least six figures.
“Work”
In a lot of songs, you can figure out what the chorus is because that’s where the artists puts most of their energy. If you try to apply that strategy to “Work,” you’ll be at the end of the song still asking yourself where the hook went because Meek doesn’t take his foot off of the pedal at all.
“Intro (Dreamchasers)”
If you start a song with a sample of “O Fortuna,” you have no choice but to bring your A-game or look like a tool. To make sure that he wasn’t the latter, Meek brought all the energy he could muster on the intro for the first of four Dreamchasers mixtapes.
“Derrick Rose”
To be fair, this song came out back when Derrick Rose was the best and most exciting player in the NBA. But something tells me that if Meek went to a Bulls-Sixers game, you’d be able to point out his cheers in the crowd every time Rose cut through the lane.
“Tupac Back”
They say the louder you say something, the more believable it is. So, Meek Mill screaming “TUPAC BACK!” may have had a couple people walking around thinking that Pac’s autopsy really was fake and that he’s down in Cuba smoking cigars with Castro.
