Meek Mill was all smiles and full of jokes as he sat down with Elliott Wilson for his CRWN Interview. In front of a crowd of a melting pot of 20 somethings at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre (July 2), the Dreamchasers general had a few reasons to be flaunting that pearly white smile. His sophomore project, Dreams Worth More Than Money, is projected to debut at the no. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, his legal woes are a thing of the pass and he has the heart of the woman that just about every man lusts for, Nicki Minaj.
During their 90-minute chat, the 28-year-old gave the audience insight on how he made it through his traumatizing five-month stint in jail, what lane he’s in in hip-hop,who he listens to, being a Future stan and of course his love life. Before the full episode of the sit down posts next week on WatchLOUD.com, take a look at what we learned about the MMG rep as he chopped it up with the YN.
Being in jail was a “nightmare”
Due to his celebrity status, when Meek was first incarcerated he was isolated for 23 hours a day in a cell with no cellmate.
“Imagine being locked in your bathroom for 23 hours a day for like a month,” he said.
The worst part was that he was stripped searched every day at the crack of dawn for no apparent reason.
“I was complaining to my lawyer like ‘Why they keep coming in my cell with dogs and s–t five in the morning when I’m sleep?’ Men with masks on. I gotta stand a###### naked in front of some men every night. But they were just targeting me. It’s just two sides to being famous. You could be targeted or you could be treated better. It was a terrible thing. F–k jail.”
He said he spent his time doing push ups and reading books because he “couldn’t really write any raps.”
“I hadn’t wrote on paper in six or seven years so writing on paper was hard. I like to be in a good mood when I rap.”
But despite having a case of writer’s block, the Philly spitter said he was still “putting in work.”
“I was battling everything moving because that’s the type of animal I am. “The doors never lock all the inmates would be sneaking into each other cells and having little rap cyphers. At 2 o’clock in the morning my cell would be filled with n—s. It would be pitch black.”
The rumor mill was working against him
Though he had no access to the ‘gram, Meek said he still got word of the rumors that were floating around about what he was going through while behind bars.
“They said somebody walked up to me and knocked me out and when I was sleep on the floor they said “It’s levels to this s###!,” he laughed.
Meek is a big fan of Future
“He’s just a trill n—a that be talking that trill sh-t and I like it,” he told Wilson. “The s–t he be talking [about] is just the lifestyle we’re into. I love the flows, the melody. I love to see somebody who got real talent go through the ups and downs and still be able to jump back like me.”
Nicki Minaj was Meek’s ride or die chick while he was in jail
“I had to hear n—s screaming out all this crazy s### about the girl I like and not say [anything]. I never really told anybody that I used to be talking to her on the phone at that time. We was on the phone everyday. It just ain’t happen on overnight…She was holding me down. She ain’t never miss a call.”
J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar aren’t Meek Mill’s favorites
Meek wanted to make something clear. He feels that J. Cole is “dope” and Kendrick Lamar is the “best lyricist doing it right now” but they aren’t really on his playlist.
“I don’t listen to that type of music,” he said unapologetically. “I used to listen to Kendrick sh-t and this time he came with something that just wasn’t my lane. If Nicki does a pop song nine times out of ten I’m never going to listen to it ever in my life…They got songs that I might listen to but that ain’t really my type of s–t. I’m on some Future, Young Thug, Dej Loaf, YG, Troy Ave…Yo Gotti, of course Fab.”
Other highlights:
Meek doesn’t like when Nicki is in the studio.
He also has a new song in the works with Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys.
Thought Kendrick Lamar isn’t one of his favorites, Meek says K. Dot “murdered him” on their collab “A1.”
A visual for the”All Eyes On You” track featuring Nicki Minaj and Chris Brown is on the way.