Gino’s Music Corner: Dreamchasers 2 – Meek Mill

It’s finally here. The highly anticipated sequel to “Dreamchasers” dropped today, and M-m-m-ma-man was I excited to hear this. Meek Mill and the rest of MMG promised a crazy summer, and this is the beginning (other than the Maybach O signing….*ahem*). Let’s get right into it. Song by song. There’s 20 tracks so I’m gonna keep it pretty brief on all of them, unless I feel the need to go long. Pause. Here we go.

1. “Intro” Beat Bully starts this tape off with a banger. The infamous Mike Tyson quote was a nice touch in the beginning, then Milli drops some bars to get us ready for the tape. This seems like an appropriate intro.

2. “Ready Or Not” This song is nice. It has an epic, inspirational type of feel to it. Allstar on the beat, always been a big fan of his. The Fugees sample is on point. I dig it.

3. “Amen (Feat. Drake & Jeremih)” This song dropped a little bit ago to hype up the tape, and it did its job. This song is great, and presents a large middle finger for people who say Meek Mill is one-dimensional. Also, the beat is DOPE. Big big big shoutout to Detroit’s own KeY Wane. The man has been on his grind and is really starting to branch out throughout the industry. Well deserved. Drizzy comes in and does his thing on this joint too. Sounds like some “Get Over It” Drake, not “Going Through Your Chanel Bag” Drake. Jeremih has a cool role in this song. He doesn’t really have the hook, or a verse, but he sings background throughout the whole track. Guarantee you start seeing this more in the game, this is a trendsetting concept. Love this song.

4. “Burn (Feat. Big Sean)” This was another early drop, few days ago matter of fact. For those who say Big Sean is weak, listen to this joint, then shut all the way the hell up. The Detroit native goes in. Him and Meek Mill got a banger. Have mercy.

5. “A1 Everything (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)” If you know me, you know that Kendrick Lamar is my favorite rapper out. So naturally, when I saw he was featured I almost ran outside and shoved a child off of a swing to get some air. When I first heard the beat I didn’t know how he was gonna approach it, then I realized he’s K. Dot and he destroys everything he touches. In a good way. This verse is NUTS. Fam. BONKERS. Nobody snaps on a joint like this dude. He’s the only dude that can use onomatopoeia to make his verses more intelligent. This man is untouchable right now. Meek Mill does his thing on this too. Another cold ass song.

GHOST NOTE: That Kendrick Lamar verse. Jesus. But yeah, mixtape is going in so far.

6. “Use To Be (Feat. Jordanne)”  Whoever this Jordanne guy is, he can sing, but his name sounds like a girl’s name. That being said, I like the concept of this song. It’s a deep track about coming up, the struggle, etc. “Used to be  a used to, never got used to being what I’m used to”. Cool pun. Song is straight. Way too long though. Like, imagine if I wrote a three page essay about this song. That’s how long it feels.

7. “Flexing” Guess what this song is about? Yup. FLEXING. This is Meek Mill’s cup of tea. Actually more like his half-gallon of Arnold Palmer. FLEXING. This song leaked a while ago too. I won’t spend a lot of time on this, I’ve heard it several times. FLEXING. It goes hard though. Moving on. FLEXING.

8. “I Get It (Feat. Travis Scott)” Not crazy about this song. This Travis Scott character is kinda weak. He’s using that same old Ace Hood “Hustle Hard” flow. That “ridin ’round and I’m gettin it” flow that’s getting overused by every wannabe in the industry not named 2Chainz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

9. “Everyday (Feat. Rick Ross)” Ohhhh boy. I was waiting for a Rozay and Milli collabo on this tape. Here it is. This beat is HARD, courtesy of Cardiak. Hook is HARD. Courtesy of Ricky. Ross basically boosts Meek Mill on this song. “PHILADELPHIA MILLIONAIRE… MEEK BE THAT N****A”. I dig it though. Banger.

10. “Racked Up Shawty (Feat. Fabolous & French Montana)” Everybody goes in on this song. I’ll admit I’m not a huge French Montana fan, but even he did a solid job on this joint. Maybe its just because he didn’t say any stupid shit. I don’t know. Fabolous, well, his verse was NIIIIIIICE. Per usual.

11. “Lean Wit It” THIS SHIT GOES HARD. CAPS LOCK NECESSARY. This is the “Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It” of cooking. Also, appreciate the shoutout to Ghost too, Meek. Probably the hardest joint without a feature so far.

12. “Big Dreams” Allstar put another smooth instrumental together. So far he’s been the X-factor of this mixtape. Meek Mill breaks out the metallic AU Filter for the hook, that was a solid effect for the slow-rockstar feel this song has to it. I needed this song, it’s a necessary break from all the go-hard Meek Mill tracks.

13. “Take U Home (Feat. Big Sean & Wale)” This song is kinda gay. I don’t know. The hook sucks. The guy singing isn’t even given feature credit. Wale’s on here too, his verse is ehhhh. He’s had a rough few months. Son hasn’t been getting much love lately, maybe if he didn’t stare at the mirror all day and tried showing some appreciation or gratitude his luck would look up. Big Sean threw a commercial verse on here too, since it’s a commercial song. Shouldn’t have put this weak shit on here. My advice is don’t listen to this.

14. “The Ride” Another song for the streets and the struggle. This joint is cool. Smooth. Solid rebound song from the garbage on unlucky #13. Meek Mill talks about how he gives to the poor and is hated on by the court system. Kind of a middle finger to the DA, who probably isn’t listening to Dreamchasers 2 anyway. But yeah, cool song.

15. “Face Down (Feat. Trey Songz, Wale, & Sneaker Sam)” Yooooo this song is dope! I’m not sure who this Sneaker Sam guy is, but he made this beat and goes in on his verse. It’s kind of triflin’, but dope none-the-less. I can’t get over this beat. Man. This shit is so raw. Wale goes in on this too. Trey Songz doesn’t sing on this, just raps the hook (I think? Let me know if I’m wrong in the comments) so don’t get too wet ladies. Grab a hand-towel, calm down.

16. “Str8 Like That (Feat. 2Chainz & Louie V)” TRUUUUUUUUU! This track is pumped with Roscoe Dash liquid audio juices and shit. Before even listening, the song title using an “8” for the “aight” in “straight” bugs the shit out of me. C0rny numb3r p14c3m3nt has been a pet peeve of mine for some time now. 2Chainz drops another 2Chainz classic on this, too bad the song blows. “TELL ‘EM GINO!” Okay Tity Boi, I will. This song isn’t good. More “WE JUST TOO TURNT UP” garbage. Meek Mill goes in, but I mean, he could have put these verses on a good song. Beat isn’t anything special either. Boooo *thr0ws t0m4t03s*

GHOST NOTE: We’re coming down to the final stretch of the mixtape, and so far I’m thinking Dreamchasers > Dreamchasers 2. Let’s see how he ends it. (I see a familiar title in the near future…..)

17. “House Party Remix (Feat. Fabolous, Wale, & Mac Miller)” Awwwwww shit. “House Party” was the party anthem for 2011, in my opinion, so this shit better be good. Meek Mill’s verse is dope as fuck. Fabolous follows by dropping some real shit without really use a lot of punchlines believe it or not. NIIIICE verse (I’m gonna use the shit out of that ad-lib whenever Fab raps, for the record). Wale goes in again. Maybe he can win me back this summer. We’ll see. And now…..Mac Miller. Sigh. Now maybe I hate the kid because I get called him all the time by stupid drunk white bitches at parties, or by dicksucking white dudes at parties, or by normal people who see a resemblance at parties, but hearing him on the House Party remix is like a Metta World Elbow to the face. So I’m not even about to address this shit fam. Y’all can listen to his verse for yourself. It was straight. Next song.

18. “Real” Meek Mill called this song “Real” for a reason. Two minutes of straight bars about real shit. “Real written all over this” pretty much sums it up. Real.

19. “On My Way” This is your typical uplifting “I’M ONNN MYYY WAYYYYYY” cornball track. I don’t like this at all dog. Reminds me of some B.o.B radio-active, stereo-typical type shit (see what I did there?) that makes me and Tyler The Creator want to stab pop singers in the esophagus for. The hook is the type of shit I take out to the curb on Thursday mornings before the Waste Management trucks come. This is something I’d expect to hear Bruno Mars belting his fruity loops on with some princess-fairy Cinderella on, not Meek Mill. This shit made me mad. Fuck this song. Forreal.

GHOST NOTE: Yo, fuck that last song. Don’t let that shit touch your iTunes library. It might spread and infect the rest of your songs with bitchassness. Quarantine that shit in your recycling bin. Empty it at least six times to be safe.

20. “Outro” Thank you, Meek Mill, for redeeming yourself. This goes hard. Phew. Had me worried for a second. But anyway, Milli goes in again and then DJ Drama talks that shit like no other DJ can. AND LIKE THAT… WE GONE.

Final Thoughts: Okay okay okay. I’m gonna have to say that although I still liked Dreamchasers more than this, I definitely fucks with it. The majority of this mixtape went very hard. For the most part, the features were on point, and the production was dope. My problem with it was that it felt a little long. He could have trimmed about 3-5 tracks off this and it would have been more effective. I found myself getting a little tired of it as I listened on. He definitely should have excommunicated that “On My Way” garbage that sounded like a relative of Diggy Simmons “Great Expectations” joint. Definitely shouldn’t have ever made that song. But yeah, overall the mixtape was dope. Salute.

GHOST GRADE: 83.8% (B)

HAVE YOU LISTENED TO Dreamchasers 2? IF SO WHAT’D YOU THINK OF IT? WHAT CURRENT OR UPCOMING PROJECT SHOULD I REVIEW NEXT? Let me know below!

Still haven’t heard Dreamchasers 2? Listen and download it free from DatPiff.