Can Meek Mill Succeed Without Rick Ross? “Dreamchasers 2” Mixtape Review Posted by Nathan S. on 05/12/12 | Filed under Meek Mill, Album Reviews

Weekend Edition: RefinedHype's most popular pieces of the week, running from Saturday to Monday morning.

Yesterday on ye olde Twitter I asked people what they'd like to see more of on RefinedHype. The number one answer? More videos of Kate Upton dancing in a bikini. I agree, but unfortunately I have no control over the frequency with which Ms. Upton decides to gyrate. However, the second most common request was for more album and mixtape reviews. That I can do...kind of.

As many of y'all might already know, I write reviews for the mothership and, believe it or not, it actually takes me a lot of time to truly listen to an album and write 1000 words of intelligent relatively intelligent commentary. Still, I'll try to up the reviews that hit RefinedHype's pages, and in the meantime I thought I'd post some select cuts from The DJBooth review; enough to spark some conversation here.

And what better way to start than Meek Mill's "Dreamchasers 2"? Read below then we'll hash things out in the comments. O ley do it.

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"The first part of Meek Mill’s career was all about proving to Rick Ross that he was good enough to ride with the Bawse. The second part will be proving to the world that he doesn’t need Rick Ross to make it. After Meek’s deal with T.I.’s Grand Hustle label fell through Ross saw the same drive to succeed in the Philly native that TIP did and soon enough Meek was playing the young protégé to Wale’s established vet as part of the unstoppable Maybach Music empire. Ironically for a rapper who made his major label debut on an album titled Self Made, no young rapper is as closely linked with his label boss as Meek Mill is to Ross. J. Cole barely got Jay-Z on his debut album, Meek Mill’s already done approximately 497 tracks with Ross, including both of his hits so far, "Tupac Back" and "Ima Boss".

Just how dependent on his Bawse is Meek? Is his success because of Rick Ross, or did Ross only speed up Meek Mill’s inevitable rise to the top? Is he ultimately a role player on the MMG team, or a solo star in the making? These are all questions that will start to be more firmly answered when his debut solo album "Dreams & Nightmares" is released this summer. But in the meantime, Meek’s dropped off a brand new mixtape (and by “mixtape” I mean “album that’s free”), "Dreamchasers 2", that should provide at least some serious clues about what lies ahead for one Mr. Robert Williams.

If Meek is to become a force both in the streets and on the charts as he clearly intends he’s going to follow Ross’ formula for widespread appeal. "Tupac Back" was nice, but he needs something radio DJs can play during traffic jams. "Take U Home" is "Dreamchasers 2"’s most obvious bid for some attention from the proverbial ladies, going so far as to sample 1984 club hit "I Wonder If I Take You Home" by Lisa Lisa. The results are decent, but Meek just doesn’t sound at home on such a lightly bouncing cut, unlike his trackmates Big Sean and Wale. "Take U Home" is easily the album’s “softest” offering; the next closest would perhaps be "Face Down", although the track’s far more aggressive and booming, and not-at-all-coincidentally much better. Ultimately, the cuts that best balance Meek’s attempts to walk the line between feeding the streets and feeding the radio are "Amen", which you’d have to actively fight to not enjoy, and "Burn", which Big Sean plays no small part in transforming from an outright banger to a punchline driven exercise in flow. Regardless, if there’s a breakout offering on "Dreamchasers 2", one joint that MTV Jams will fall over itself to play ten times a day, I don’t hear it."

Read the Full "DreamChasers 2" Review via The DJBooth

See Also: Rant Alert: Meek Mill, Rick Ross, Crashed Servers & “DreamChasers 2” Mixtape (Listen & Download)