While the album has certainly caught on with traditional hip-hop fans more than an album of “House Party” sequels likely would, the relative absence of the style that brought Mill to the dance is sorrily missed. While the album does have its absolutely stellar moments that rank among the year’s best, all too often it feels like Mill is being pulled in the direction of either trying-too-hard to make his debut album his own Reasonable Doubt or something that falls in uniformity with the Maybach assembly line. It’s a solid release that only falls short considering what Meek Mill is capable of. 2).” Both of which carry a style far more indicative of what one would hope a full-length Meek album on Maybach would sound like.Īgain, Dreams and Nightmares is not a bad or even mediocre album by any means. The only really moments where Mill and Maybach’s styles meet halfway are the irresistibly fun “Amen,” and the sequel to one of Mill’s signature tracks “Tony Story (Pt. Maybach still has the sharpest ears for production in the mainstream rap world, making the bulk of Dreams and Nightmares’ tracks ideal for any Yacht party you may find yourself planning.
However, that isn’t a bad thing in itself. Unfortunately, this track and “Traumatized” are the only times where we really see the old Mill shine through as, stylistically, the bulk of Dreams and Nightmares doesn’t so much sound like a proper Meek Mill album as a Maybach Music album that happens to primarily feature Mill. It’s the type of unbridled energy that made him a mixtape star taken to the sleek extreme few artists with major label resources ever realize. The title track, easily the strongest opener of any 2012 rap album, begins as a deceptively straight-forward drumless Maybach monologue before the beat changes up and we go entirely off the rails as only Mill can. While, on one hand, it’s an incredibly cohesive and consistent release, for someone like Mill this by-the-number traditionalism feels more like a creative roadblock than a path to success. But while those saw him receive an increase in popularity for their focused flows on tracks that could explode at any time, Mill made it a point to remind listeners that the eventual album wasn’t “going to be all over the place.” What resulted is Dreams and Nightmares falling on its own double-edged sword for following the “classic rap debut” formula too closely. The album arrived as the culmination of Mills’ Dreamchasers mixtape series. Unfortunately, that debut Dreams and Nightmares sounds a little too much like someone else’s. After 2011’s chaotic “House Party” single won over the critics and streets alike, the stage was set for Mill to give us his prime debut album.
Once his relationship with Grand Hustle ended, Ross and company knew about the potential stardom in Mill’s talents, eventually adding him to the label and fine-tuning all of his strengths to ready him for the national stage. Signed by T.I.’s Grand Hustle in the late-2000s, Mill garnered a loyal following on the mixtape circuit for his undeniably charismatic party bangers. Like most of Maybach Music Group’s roster, Meek Mill’s story is one of a talented, but discarded, rap artist left to die by the major labels until Rick Ross and company could groom him into one of the most popular new artists in hip-hop today.
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