Billboard is celebrating the 2010s with essays on the 100 songs that we feel most define the decade that was — the songs that both shaped and reflected the music and culture of the period — with help telling their stories from some of the artists, behind-the-scenes collaborators and industry insiders involved.
Meek Mill‘s career has been often defined by wins and losses. From his public spat with Drake to his on-and-off-again legal woes, the Philly rapper’s successes were often weighed down by different obstacles. Despite his setbacks, Meek consistently found ways to trounce the competition with his thunderous anthems. In 2012, fans received an early glimpse of Meek’s song-making prowess when he unleashed his searing intro “Dreams & Nightmares,” off his debut album of the same name.
Fresh off the success of his acclaimed 2012 mixtape Dreamchasers 2, the 25-year-old Meek looked to graduate into the big league of rap with his first official album under Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group imprint. While recording in Miami, he came to relish the city’s club atmosphere and doled out his first Dreams single “Young & Gettin’ It,” featuring Kirko Bangz. Though the AutoTune-tinged record peaked at No. 86 on the Hot 100, behind the scenes, Meek was readying his sonorous intro “Dreams and Nightmares,” which he knew would serve as his real introduction to the spotlight.
“When he first played it, the music was all the same, because Beat Bully did the beat,” recalls Dallas Martin, svp of A&R at Atlantic Records. “He rapped the first part with the piano for me and [Rick] Ross at Ross’ studio in Miami… [after that] he was like, ‘Then, I’m gonna have Beat Bully change the beat right here, and I’m gonna be like, ‘Hold on, wait a minute, y’all thought I was finished…’ But the beat wasn’t changed yet. So we were like, ‘OK. That sounds like a dope-ass idea.'”
Though Meek’s initial attempt didn’t fully wow Ross and company because the song was unfinished, two weeks later, the Philly lyricist had the last laugh at Miami’s Ocean Sky Hotel.
“Beat Bully changed the music, but he didn’t tell everybody [about] it. [Meek] kinda wrote his verse, so I think he wanted to see our reaction,” says Martin. “He went in there, and the piano started playing, and he does the first part. Then when he does, ‘Hold on, wait a minute, y’all thought I was finished,’ and he started rapping, I think everybody’s jaws just dropped. We were like, ‘What the f–k is this?'”
Beat Bully nimbly crafted a beat that played to both of Meek’s strengths: his grit and tenacity. The angelic keys didn’t ruffle his delivery either, as he floats through the first half of the song with elastic ease. His humble flexes, about working with Mariah Carey and shining in his icy watches, gleam through his 24-bar verse. Then, mid-track, Meek cannonballs his way into lyrical armageddon, courtesy of Beat Bully’s seamless beat switch. Instantly, the Philly pit-bull gnaws through the dark and explosive beat — with dozens of quotables, most notably his Lil Mouse-borrowed “you f–k around, you f–k around, you f–k get smoked” line, were littered throughout the second-half of the song, leaving fans awestruck.
“I think it was the first time we all heard it in the club; that’s when we were like, ‘Oh my God. This s–t sounds massive,'” Martin relays.
Meek’s grandiose display was welcomed with praise by fans and rappers alike. The song took a life of its own and helped Dreams and Nightmares debut at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, the same week the torrential winds of Hurricane Sandy mangled homes in the Northeast. “It will always be a Philadelphia classic — and a hip-hop classic, period,” Philly DJ Cosmic Kev told Billboard about “Dreams” in 2018. “That record could be 30 years old and it will still be an anthem; it’s timeless.”
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In 2014, Meek’s on-again/off-again rival Drake tweeted how the song was “one of the best rap moments of our generation.” And in 2018, the Philadelphia Eagles embraced the record as their anthem during their shaky route to the Super Bowl. The song rang off in clubs and arenas, and instantly became Meek’s go-to outro at every performance he had, showing the wide cultural impact a non-radio single could have in 2010s hip-hop.
“I didn’t think [people] would respond to that song like that,” Meek revealed on Hot 97’s Juan Epstein podcast in 2013. “But you know, that’s why I made that song in that manner. I didn’t think they was gon’ catch it the way they caught it.”
“To this day, nobody would think to play an intro as the hottest hip-hop song in the club until after that record came out,” offers Martin. “The first part is more nostalgic and shows that [Meek] can really rap, but the second part is Meek Mill. The turn-up, the confidence. It gives you confidence. That’s what everybody loves Meek Mill for.”
