our new power✊🏾🏆Meek is all of us
hip hop's new daily operation | 6.5.20
TheMotto No. 33 closes out our tumultuous week with a new song — Meek Mill’s “Otherside of America” — that touches on our nation’s civil unrest. Since being released from prison in April 2018, Meek has ascended to new heights. His 2018 Championships (MMG/Atlantic) is platinum, and Grammy-nominated. And as a criminal justice activist he co-founded REFORM. Some in these Internets streets tease the dreams-and-nightmares MC by calling him Meek Luther King. I admire Meek’s personal growth, though. I love when he gets in his political bag.
Meek even finds way to use the below clip of a December 2018 CNN appearance at the end of “Otherside.” He gets host Michael Smerconish to admit that he too would carry a gun if, like Meek, he grew up in a ruthless environment.
Hopefully “Otherside” connects long term — Meek feels like his past efforts in this sociopolitical vein did not ⬇️
top billin:
mood 🎤⏬
and: Kanye West returned to Chicago to join Chicago Public School students as they protested police officers at their schools ⤵️
Ludacris and Kevin Hart were among the attendees at George Floyd’s Minneapolis memorial service ⏬
T.I. and Tiny were also in attendance ⤵️
Speaking of Mr. Harris, I finally caught his conversation on Carmelo Anthony’s What’s In Your Glass show. “If you don’t vote, you absolutely lose,” T.I. said. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” ⬇️
Trey Songz just released a new gospel-tinged tune. A portion of the proceeds will be sent to Black Lives Matter.
change the game:
Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang’s #TheShowMustBePaused movement is helping to hold the music industry accountable and we continue to see results ↕️
⏬ Universal Republic is home to such artists as Drake, The Weeknd, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi, Pop Smoke, and Post Malone. And, finally, they will no longer attach the label “urban” to black artists. They are also suggesting other labels follow their lead. To be honest, we’ve been dealing with this “urban” thing since I got in the game in 1992 (and it existed before that, obvs). I’ve been sick of it for a long time. Culture writer Keith Murphy (Murph!) breaks it down here.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has a moment of clarity? ⤵️
what more can I say:
photo: danamo ⤴️
Let’s run it back: July, 2, 2015. New York City. Celebrating the successful release of his second album, Dreams Worth More Than Money, Meek pulled up to Gramercy Theatre (with Nicki Minaj) for his first CRWN conversation. Meek commanded the crowd for 90 mins. You could feel that he was truly beginning to feel comfortable asserting himself as a rap superstar.
Just 20 days later he posted the infamous tweet about Drake that ignited the greatest rap beef since Jay-Z and Nas. What wild times. On August 3, 2015, I was with the wife (and my fam Boachie) up front at Toronto’s OVO Fest when Drake performed “Back To Back.” But Meek’s resiliency is undeniable. He came back strong. And like Shawn and Nasir, Robert and Aubrey eventually resolved their differences. “Going Bad” never felt so good.
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