Growing up, I had a bad habit of lying to my parents—about everything. If I had a turkey sandwich for lunch, I would tell them I ate a PB&J. If I received a poor report card, I would throw it down the sewer and play dumb regarding its whereabouts. If I said I was sleeping at a friend’s house, more often than not I was at a party. But I finally matured (kind of) and grew out of being a lying piece of shit. It took time and a lot of tongue lashings, but I learned my lesson. Meek, you’ve been bodied two times in two years. When are you going to learn yours?
“Is that a world tour or your girl’s tour? I know you gotta be a thug for her, This ain’t what she mean when she told you to open up more.” These Drake bars off his second Meek diss track, “Back to Back,” are more quoted than scripture. This song took summer ’15 by storm and rallied Hip Hop fans against the Philly rapper who accused the 6 God of employing a ghost writer. Drake packaged a collection of insults, shots and one-liners to simultaneously expose and submit Meek. Scratch that—Drake murdered Meek. The Hip Hop community rejoiced in his public embarrassment and issued a barrage of disparaging memes at his expense. You would think after this one hit IG, Meek would realize that starting beef with Rap heavy hitters isn’t kosher. I’m going to ask you again: when are you going to learn, Meek? When?!
I grew up listening to The Game. If there were a Smithsonian Institution for Rap, The Documentary would comfortably be on display with some of Hip Hop’s most iconic albums. I learned a lot from the Cali rapper as a kid: authenticity, proper rim size for an Impala, his violent upbringing and if I ever had the chance to, never, ever, cross The Game. I guess Meek skipped that class in Hip Hop 101. In the words of Kevin Hart, “You gon learn today!”
There wasn’t always bad blood between Game and Meek. The former endearingly referenced him on his track “100”—ironically featuring Drake—when discussing Meek’s relationship with the late Lil Snupe: “Miss 4 Cent, that was my real nigga, Held a nigga down since he was a lil’ nigga, If he was still alive, he would kill niggas, He was Lil Snupe, I was Meek Mill.” Game also refused to speak ill of him when asked his opinion on the Drake-Meek feud during his September 2015 Breakfast Club interview.
The Game has his boys’ backs—loyalty is in his DNA. Due to violating his probation, Meek was under house arrest for about six-months, but was recently allowed to cut the ankle tracker. So what does someone do after they’ve been partitioned from the world for nearly six-months? They go to LA to celebrate. Being the warm and hospitable guy that Game is, he sent Mill a bottle of Rose and warned him about the recent robberies happening in the three-w capital. After daps and “good looks” were exchanged, I’m sure the respective parties went back to enjoying their influx of women and drinks—business as usual. What happened next wasn’t as conventional.
The last time Sean Kingston was relevant, Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone. Yeah, it’s been awhile since we’ve heard about the suicide inducing “beautiful girls.” Well, it’s nine-years later, and Kingston is finally back in the spotlight—but not for his music. After Meek left the club that night, Sean got jumped and had his jewelry lifted. While talking to Sirius XM, Game informed them that Kingston hit him up saying, “Game, that’s fucked up. Meek told me you set me up.” Oh shit… But hey, Game isn’t unreasonable. He wanted to give Meek the benefit of the doubt, so he dialed both up to get to the bottom of the story. Here’s Game’s recount of the conversation: "So I said you know what, we gon' fix this. [I] call Sean Kingston on three-way ... and [Meek] goin' off on Sean Kingston. 'I ain't tell you nothin'.' And Sean Kingston said, 'Yes, you did.'... So I just hung up the phone." Congrats, Meek, you just signed your death wish.
Game immediately took to Instagram, posting a slew of images calling Meek a rat and a snitch, and ranting about his imminent demise. But pictures and threats can only go so far; Game knew it was time to put Meek in his place. He stepped into the booth, threw on his headphones, cleared his throat, and laid down one of the most lethal diss tracks I’ve ever heard, “92 Bars,” akin to “Ether” and “Takeover.” I think Gil Scott-Heron would be proud of Game for this one.
The DJ Quik production is one for the ages. Game effortlessly lays bar after bar, describing his street credentials, emasculating Meek, and warning him to sleep with one eye open. “Nigga, you know I’ll snap you like a toothpick, And snitching on niggas ain’t never been no cool shit, And I’ve been waiting to give Nicki this pool stick, So tell your lil’ vibrant thing come fuck with Q-Tip.” *Cue Ice Cube and Chris Tucker saying “DAAAAMMNNN!!” in Friday* Game’s frustration and angst are palpable as he lyrically disembodied Squeak Mill. Meek couldn’t just sit idly by, he needed to strike.
He assembled the poor man’s A-Team (Beanie Sigel, Omelly and Takbar) and laid down a rebuttal over Young M.A.’s scorching beat, “OOOUUU.” I literally laughed when I heard it. His only “insults” towards Game were calling him a faggot and saying how he used to be a stripper… That’s a really extensive vocabulary you have there, Meek. I think Keyshawn Johnson said it best, “COME ON MAN!” This “diss track” didn’t shake Game whatsoever; it fueled him.
Using the same “OOOUUU” beat—one of Game’s favorite instrumentals—the Cali spitter returns to lyrically stabbing Meek and his cohorts. “92 Bars” for sure is one for the ages, but Game’s second diss track, “Pest Control,” feels more personal. In the same interview with Sirius XM, Game told them, “[Meek] did the ultimate fuckery—he went and got Beans to help. I got love for Beans so when he did that, I was genuinely hurt.” Game dug Sigel’s grave with lines like, “The nigga Hov gave you the game, you ain’t soak it, You was s’posed to throw up the Roc, not smoke it.” He also takes serious shots at Sean Kingston by saying, “Fuck you sister while you watch ‘cause she’s kinda thick, And make that bitch take a knee, like Colin Kaepernick.” But the ultimate jugular-slaying line is, “They say the meek shall inherit the Earth, So I went and dug your ass up, ‘cause Drizzy buried you first.” In the line of Game’s fire, no one is safe.
We’ve yet to hear a second rebuttal from Meek, but if he’s smart, he too will follow Kaepernick's lead and take a knee. Meek, you lost, again. Now please just take your L and let real rappers handle the mic. You’re embarrassing yourself and MMG, while continuing to dig your own grave. I’m going to ask you one last time: when are you going to learn, Meek? When?!