Philadelphia's Meek Mill to Release Debut Album 'Dreams and Nightmares' on October 30

Dreams and Nightmares, the debut album from Meek Mill

By A.D. AMOROSI

Philadelphia’s Meek Mill has been a hip hop fixture for so long with his independent Dreamchaser mix tape series and his affiliation with Rick Ross’ Maybach Music, it’s hard to believe that he hasn’t released an actual album. All that changes though on October 30 when Mill drops his debut album Dreams and Nightmares  (Maybach/Warner Brothers) with a slew of top tier guests such as Drake, Ross, Nas, John Legend, Mary J. Blige and Trey Songz.

Meek Mill

Area rap fans dig the now-twenty-five-year-old North Philly native for his fourteen self-made and distributed mix tapes. His Philly fan base has watched Mill open for Drake, Diddy, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj, as well as appear in an afternoon set during the first day of Jay Z’s Made in America outdoor concert at the Philadelphia Art Museum. “It’s only right we’re there,” Mill told me days before his September show with Ross and rapper Wale in tow. “We’re the top.”

Being on top has also meant that Mill has courted some controversy as he did during the Drake/Chris Brown battle royale at a club in New York City, and also his argument with a Philadelphia minister over the so-called blasphemous lyrics to Mill’s smash “Amen.” North Philadelphia’s Reverand Jomo K. Johnson called for a boycott of Mill after claiming that “Amen”’s lyrics (“I just wanna thank God / For all the pretty women He let into my life / All the Benjamins He let me count”) were blasphemous. In his defense during a Hot 107.9 FM debate with the Reverend, Mill stated that Johnson was just seeking attention and had ignored all Mill’s kindly charity work.

Controversy aside, “Amen” is one of the brightest songs on Mill’s Dreams and Nightmares, fitting in nicely with thirteen additional tunes like his current Top 40 hit "Young & Getting' It.” More important to Mill – and the reason he “just wasn’t ready” to release this debut artist disc before now - was that he wanted to make something epic. "I want to have a classic album, an Illmatic, Get Rich or Die Tryin' type, a hip-hop album," says Mill citing Nas and 50 Cent's records in a Dreams and Nightmares press release.

If Mill is looking to make an Illmatic-style classic, it’s a good thing that he got that album’s creator, Nas, on board for Dreams and Nightmares. Equally fine is that he managed to wrangle in guests such as fellow Philadelphian John Legend and the First Lady of Hip Hop, Mary J. Blige. But Mill’s debut artist album is best when it’s just Meek rapping about his journey from the pavement to the penthouse.

The Dreams and Nightmares tracklist:

1. Dreams And Nightmares (produced by Tone the Best Bully )
2. In God We Trust (produced by Black Metaphor)
3. Young & Gettin' It featuring Kirko Bangz (produced by Jahlil Beats)
4. Traumatized (produced by Boi-1da)
5. Believe It featuring Rick Ross (produced by Young Shun)
6. Maybach Curtains featuring Nas, John Legend & Rick Ross (produced by Infamous & The Agency)
7. Amen featuring Drake (produced by Key Wane and Jahlil Beats)
8. Young Kings (produced by Lee Major)
9. Lay Up featuring Wale, Rick Ross & Trey Songz (produced by Kane Beatz and Co-Produced by Ashanti "The Mad Violinist")
10. Tony Story Pt. 2 (produced by Boi-1da)
11. Who Your Around featuring Mary J. Blige (produced by Tommy "TBHITS" Brown and Travis)
12. Polo & Shell Tops (produced by Cardiak)
13. Rich & Famous featuring Louie V (produced by Jahlil Beats)
14. Real N***** Come First (produced by Kenoe and Got Koke)

Meek Mill Photo ©Smallz + Raskind

Posted on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 10:50 AM