On July 21, 2015, Meek Mill’s career changed forever.
That night, the Philadelphia rapper called out Drake for not writing his own raps, sparking a beef between the two that Meek eventually lost. Despite the setback, Meek’s career marched forward with a Puma deal, more new music, and an ongoing relationship with Nicki Minaj. Objectively, life wasn’t bad for Meek after the Drake beef (which is technically unresolved, but in more of a Cold War situation). And why should it be? He’s a famous rapper that came from the hood and is now rich as hell. He’s not broke and irrelevant. His last album went No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and was critically praised.
A rapper’s fortunes can change quickly, and with Meek’s next project, DC4, finally about to drop, things were looking up. In July, after spending time with Meek and the rest of MMG in Atlanta and listening to unreleased music, I wrote that he was ready for his comeback. He was poised for a resurgence. And yet, here we are again, talking about beef, this time with Philly legend Beanie Sigel and L.A.’s foremost name-dropper, the Game.
There is no upside to the situation. It’s one thing to fire a diss in response to the Game, who thrives in these situations, but it’s another to completely escalate a situation with fellow Philadelphian Beanie Sigel, who was an ally to Meek when the beef with Game began a few weeks ago. Meek went from having Beans in his corner in the Game drama, to somehow turning it into yet another beef to contend with. The issue appears to have boiled over—Meek’s associates allegedly jumped Beanie at a recent concert. Then, Beanie went onto internet personality Taxstone’s podcast on Wedesday and said that the conflict started when he criticized Meek's handling of beef.
Beanie admitted that he was initially rooting for Meek, but the fuckery pushed him to his breaking point. "You argue with people in your comments to the point where you worry about what the peanut gallery got to say and not worry about what the thoroughbreds think about you. Fuck the peanut gallery,” Beanie said. He couldn’t be more correct.
Meek is a super-talented rapper who can’t stop self-sabotaging. Maybe it’s time to admit that beef just isn’t for him—something that seems inconceivable given his come-up as a battle rapper. But he just seems to be bad at beef, and it’s completely derailing his career.
His mistakes during the Drake battle were messy, but understandable as time wore on based on the gravity of the situation. He called out Drake’s livelihood and had to deal with it. Even while taking the L, he recouped some ground in January when he released his 4/4 Part 2 EP, which included the scathing OVO takedown “War Pain.” There was hope, promise even, as he maneuvered away from the loss and back into his lane as a rising star in rap. Fast forward to now, and Meek is still falling into the traps of the music industry, and now bickering with mid-card rappers when he shouldn’t be paying them any attention. It’s beginning to feel like a scripted WWE plot, with Meek perpetually poised to lose while others use his skills to big up their own fame. It shouldn’t be like that. But at this point, Meek only has himself to blame. Once again, it looks like he has no plan in place, other than getting some ill-conceived Instagram posts off.
Having actually heard songs from DC4, I can promise you that Meek Mill has not forgotten how to rap. He has heat on deck, but instead of focusing on that, Meek is out here beefing with a 42-year-old Beanie Sigel and the Game. Sadly, he’s not even winning in either of those conflicts. While it’s not “Back to Back” level of L's, yet, Meek certainly isn’t swaying any of the naysayers. If anything, he’s proving everyone right.
On the cusp of the most important project of his career, one that could serve as his big comeback, Meek can only distract listeners from what really matters. This is in no means a death sentence on a career, but rather a plea to Meek Mill. Please, just focus and worry about yourself. Let your music do the talking and you’ll get back to where you want to be.
Meek Mill could drop DC4 tomorrow. The music could shut everyone up. It’s just on Meek to stay out of his own way.
