Is It really, TOO Good To Be True???

Meek Mill and Rick Ross Collaboration Album Review

We are in a season of music that is gimmick-based and unnecessarily performative. This newfound gimmick and performative aspect of musicianship has become in many ways exhausting to historic Hip Hop fans. This has also made it difficult to distinguish entertainers who value generating revenue, from responsible musicians who value lasting impact on listeners. Meek Mill and Rick Ross are 2 artists who reflect the latter.  There is never a doubt upon listening to either artist, that the lyrics did not come from an intentional space, with impact and influence in mind. Meek and Ross both possess a genuine love for the sport of Rap and approach projects with a level of intentionality that historically reflects that love.

Collaboration albums garner a lot of support from fans while increasing the competitive nature of rap, by forcing artists to rap UP. Unfortunately, I cannot say that occurred with this project, and beyond that this project arrived unexpectedly. Rick Ross has not dropped an album since 2021 (Richer Than I Ever Been) and seems laser-focused on business ventures, and although Meek Mill's last album was also released in 2021(Expensive Pain) it was poorly marketed and not well received. In that regard, many fans have been expecting another independent album from Meek, prior to any collaborative effort of this nature. Especially considering the many solo freestyles the rapper has dropped on his social media over the past year, proving the rapper is still in prime lyrical form. 

The combined energy of 2 artists who love the sport of Rap as much as they respect one another is bound to create at least one enjoyable anthem.  However, after 2 listens, it is possible they may have missed the mark with this collaborative effort. The duo gifted us with an album entitled Too Good To Be True, including 17 tracks, with 11 features, from Fabolous, Teyana Tayor, DJ Khaled, Wale, The Dream, Future, Vory, Shaquille O’Neal and Dame D.O.L.L.A.  This project is akin to mixtape-level artistry with album-level production, loaded with empty bars and redundant lyrical content. The most memorable verse, with creative metaphors, slick bars, and overly confident punch lines, is from Fabolous in his feature on ‘Dead Last.’  The album also lacks lyrical growth and quality storytelling, which we are accustomed to receiving from Meek and Ross independently. The choruses are unmemorable, and the lyrics are far from anthem-worthy. Which is surprising because it does not accurately reflect the immense amount of growth that has occurred in both of the artist's personal lives, since their last release. Meek Mill is making groundbreaking progress in the criminal justice system with REFORM and Rick Ross is en route to becoming Hip Hop's next Billionaire with his many lucrative business ventures/investments. Unfortunately, this collective insight, passion, and experience accumulated outside of the studio, was seemingly not translated to the lyrics on this album. 

There are undeniable anthems in both of the rapper's catalogs. Songs that if they were played in a club packed to capacity, and the beat is dropped by the Dj-the entire club could complete the verses and/or the songs independently. Anthems in Meek Mill's catalog include "Levels," "Amen," "Dreams and Nightmares" and more. Within the Rick Ross catalog, "Hustlin", "Stay Schemin’" and "B.M.F" are comparable songs of equal familiarity and impact. With that being said, for this project to be missing anthem or an anthem-adjacent level track, is disappointing.

This project sounds more like an auditory scrimmage project from the rappers, as opposed to a championship game-level form of artistry. With that being said, it is possible we are going to hear from one or both of the artists in the near future, hopefully for more intentional solo projects that include the depth and originality we are used to receiving works from both artists. 

Until the anticipated return of both of these rappers at high-level artistry where they push their pens, easy listening and in honor of the album's first single “Shaq & Kobe”, RIP KOBE BRYANT aka Black Mamba.