Meek Mill : Dreams and Nightmares Review
Dreams and Nightmares deserves to stand amongst Drake’s Thank Me Later, Kendrick Lamar’s Section.80, and J. Cole’s Cole World as one of the best debut albums of the 2010s.
Meek Mill had already made a name for himself off the back of several mixtapes in the late 2000s, but aimed to make a more coherent, professional project with his studio debut. Meek wastes no time with this project, introducing it with maybe the best song of his career, the title track Dreams and Nightmares. There aren’t many more iconic beat switches than when the uplifting piano with no drums turns to the intense backing for Meek Mill’s shit talking. Throughout the next 13 songs, (15 on the deluxe) there isn’t a dull moment or bad verse, as Meek combines great lyricism and flow with a variety of excellently produced instrumentals, whether it’s the upbeat pianos Amen or the cinematic samples on Traumatized, this album thrives in every style it chooses, while remaining coherent as promised.
Meek Mill employs numerous features on this album, from both rappers like Drake, Nas, and Rick Ross (three times!) and singers like John Legend and Mary J. Blige. The all star cast consistently delivers, elevating and being elevated by Meek Mill himself. No feature feels out of place, and while some of the performances are very distinctly early 2010s (Trey Songz, Louie V), they manage to age surprisingly well.
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In an 63 minutes of runtime (the deluxe), Dreams and Nightmares only falters in two places. Immediately after the masterpiece of an intro track, Meek Mill delivers his weakest song of the album with In God We Trust. The rapping itself isn’t bad, but the instrumental and beat are extremely boring and bland compared to the stuff we see later on the albums, on songs such as Maybach Curtains or Tony Story, Pt. 2. Furthermore, the song is a whopping 4:37 long, and while 7 songs on the album pass the 4 minute mark, In God We Trust is still one of the longest, with no beat switch to speak of unlike its predecessor. The second roadbump is the final track of the deluxe, Freak Show. This is still a good track, though a strange departure from the theme of the album. Both Meek and 2 Chainz have good verses, but the Sam Sneak feature on the chorus falls flat.
On the flip side, there are so many high points on this album its difficult to single out only a few. The aforementioned hits Amen and Traumatized are two sides of the same coin for Meek Mill. On Amen, he teams up with Drake to deliver happy and bragadocious lyrics, while Traumatized is his most emotional and vulnerable song on the album. Both of these songs are fantastic, and despite being so different in style, neither of them feel out of place.
Quite a few songs on the album employ guest singers on the chorus, but no song does it better than Maybach Curtains, with not only John Legend, but Nas and Rick Ross too. Of course John Legend’s singing is phenomenal, but it’s the instrumental that brings it all together, employing numerous strings, maximalist drums, and even a saxophone throughout the entire song. Everybody shows up on this song and it results in one of the better large collaboration efforts in recent memory.
Finally, Tony Story, Pt. 2, the best entry of the trilogy, has Meek Mill flexing his story telling ability, with fantastic lyricism that so effortlessly paints a picture of revenge. It’s the production on this track, though, that brings it all together. Unlike some of the other hits on the album, the instrumental is simple, but incredibly effective, utilizing classic drums and a wonderful (and a little bit creepy) melody. The rain sounds throughout the song further establish the mood of the song.
Verdict: It’s difficult to find a better debut studio album than Meek Mill’s Dreams and Nightmares. It has anything you would ever want in a classic: excellent production, writing, and rapping alongside memorable feature performances and a handful of hits. In 63 minutes, Meek very rarely slips up, resulting in one of the best albums of the early 2010s
