Meek Mill has famously rapped about his “Dreams & Nightmares.” Well, this new song of his may just be a plain nightmare for him.
On Wednesday, a snippet of his untitled song with Lil Baby began to surface on social media and there was one particular lyric that stood out like the sorest of thumbs.
The lyric in question? “If I ever lack I’m goin’ out with my choppa, it be another Kobe.”
If it isn’t already obvious in the most sobering and jarring way possible, the lyric references the death of basketball star Kobe Bryant.
That said, um, what in the utterly disrespectful fuck?! Was that even necessary? As you know, many fans were left in a state of shocked mourning in early 2020 when we all found out 41-year-old Kobe and his 13-year-old daughter were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Ca. Recently, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that helicopter pilot Ara Zobayan “abandoned his training” to navigate the heavy cloudy conditions in the lead-up to the tragic crash, essentially violating federal standards. Noting TMZ’s egregiously gross decisions to report the news before LA County officials could notify the family as well as releasing a visual of the crash site for clicks (via the first responders, prompting Kobe’s widow Vanessa to file a lawsuit against the LA sheriff’s office), it’s pretty safe to say there are many reasons why a reference to the helicopter would be off-putting, to say the very least.
Sure, the late sports icon will be a name likely included in many future hip-hop references, and understandably so. But this wasn’t even effective—in addition to it being plain cruel. Yes, I get the play-on-words with the slang term for gun, but to do that using the method in which Kobe and his daughter were tragically killed? The fuck is wrong with you, Meek? Seriously. This isn’t cool, man. Not cool at all.
As expected—and the real reason I even know about this damn song—Black Twitter was incensed.
Meek has been doing his thing when it comes to being active in the fight for criminal justice system reform, but that certainly doesn’t absolve him from being called out when he’s out of turn. This is one of those situations. Meek, this ain’t it. Frankly, I hope this snippet is all I ever have to hear of this triggering song ever again. And to be honest, even that was already too damn much...