Meek Mill

Born Robert Rihmeek Williams in South Philadelphia, Meek Mill grew up on the north side of his hometown, where his mother worked to provide for him and his sister. Drawn to hip-hop early through family musicians and local figures such as Will Smith, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Chic Raw, and Vodka, he sharpened his craft as a battle rapper before forming the Bloodhoundz with friends. The crew issued mixtapes in the latter half of the 2000s while Meek put out solo material on the side, beginning with The Real Me and its sequel in 2006. Those releases drew offers from Warner Bros. and T.I.’s Atlantic-affiliated Grand Hustle; he signed with the latter in 2008 only to have momentum halted by a conviction and prison term.

After his release he kept releasing mixtapes, earning a spot in XXL magazine’s 2011 Freshman Class feature. Meek never delivered a full-length project for Grand Hustle. Instead he joined Rick Ross’ Warner-distributed Maybach Music Group and appeared on the 2011 compilation Self Made, Vol. 1, which yielded the platinum-certified Rick Ross collaboration “I’m a Boss.” Two further Ross pairings from Self Made, Vol. 2—“Tupac Back” and “Ima Boss”—reached the Billboard rap chart, the latter securing Meek’s first of several RIAA gold certifications. In October 2012, shortly after appearing on one version of Wale’s Hot 100 single “Bag of Money,” he issued his proper debut album Dreams and Nightmares, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200; its biggest track, “Amen” featuring Drake, climbed to number four on the rap chart. That same month he launched Dream Chasers Records.

Between albums Meek contributed to Self Made, Vol. 3, expanded his mixtape and singles catalogs, and guested on tracks by Kid Ink, DJ Khaled, and Jazmine Sullivan. His second studio effort, Dreams Worth More Than Money, entered the Billboard 200 at number one in June 2015. Two of its singles—“All Eyes on You” with Chris Brown and then-partner Nicki Minaj, plus “R.I.C.O.” with Drake—reached the rap Top Ten and achieved platinum status; the latter collaboration preceded a widely publicized public dispute with Drake later that summer. Following a stretch of house arrest, he dropped the mixtape DC4 in October 2016, which opened at number three on the Billboard 200. A series of singles the next year, including “Whatever You Need” produced by DJ Mustard and featuring Chris Brown and Ty Dolla $ign, led to the July 2017 album Wins and Losses, highlighted by the incisive “Young Black America,” which addressed systemic obstacles facing youths in underserved communities.

At the close of 2017 Meek received a multi-year prison sentence for parole violation, yet he was freed the following April amid support from fans, politicians, athletes, actors, and fellow musicians. Three months later he returned with the Top Ten EP Legends of Summer, then topped the chart in November with Championships, an album on which he remained combative. The project delivered his first Top Ten pop hit via the Drake collaboration “Going Bad” and earned a 2019 Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album; in the interim his 2008 conviction was overturned.

Non-album singles such as “Letter to Nipsey” and “Otherside of America” charted in 2020, alongside the Quarantine Pack EP whose Lil Durk-assisted “Pain Away” also charted. Expensive Pain arrived in October 2021 and reached number three, aided by another Durk and Lil Baby collaboration, the number 22 pop hit “Sharing Locations.” His appearance on H.E.R.’s Back of My Mind brought a second Grammy nomination, this time for Album of the Year. The duo album Too Good to Be True with Rick Ross followed in November 2023; its preview single “Shaq & Kobe” became Meek’s seventeenth Hot 100 entry as lead artist and helped the set land at number 23 on the Billboard 200. In February 2024 he issued the independent five-track Heathenism EP on Dream Chasers, featuring Future on “Giving Chanel” and Fivio Foreign on “Whatever I Want.”