Wins and Losses
| Meek Mill
Wins and Losses
Wins & Losses is the third studio album by American rapper Meek Mill. It was released on July 21, 2017, by Maybach Music Group and Atlantic Records Group. It is the follow-up to Meek Mill's second album Dreams Worth More Than Money (2015) and his Meekend Music EP series. It includes guest appearances from Rick Ross, Future, Quavo, Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, Chris Brown, Ty Dolla Sign, Yo Gotti, The-Dream, Teyana Taylor, and Verse Simmonds. Production derives from Meek Mill's first signed Dreamchaser producer Papamitrou, Streetrunner, DJ Mustard, Street Symphony, Wheezy, Maaly Raw, Dougie, and Honorable C.N.O.T.E. and Audio Jack.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
His third album, Wins and Losses, assesses what it really means to be defeated. On Wins and Losses Meek attempts to change his narrative using a different perspective. Here, he isn’t Drake’s also-ran or Nicki Minaj’s ex; he’s the ultimate underdog, a battle-rapping corner boy who came from nothing and gained everything.
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DJ Booth
Meek offers in the way of his lyrical performance that doesn’t feel familiar. I really enjoyed his music when paired with a story. The short film works so well because the scenes are paired with songs that do an excellent job depicting what we're watching. It adds to the listening experience in a way that the music doesn’t do as a stand-alone.
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Genius
If there’s anything that’s for sure to expect from a Meek album, its'a a fire intro. Meek goes tf in after that beat switch.
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The Young Folks
This album was all over the place tonally, and although many of the focal points peppered throughout the project were really good, I think this would have worked better as a mixtape.
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Metacritic
The third full-length studio release for the Philadelphia rapper features guest appearances from Guordan Banks, Chris Brown, DJ Mustard, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, Quavo, Rick Ross, Teyana Taylor, The-Dream, Ty Dolla $ign, Verse Simmonds, and Young Thug.
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XXL
While Meek has had a tendency to a use his aggressive bars on songs where a softer edge should take place and misplace his emotions—he has previously made love songs sound like battle raps and introspective verses sound like aimless flexes—this issue doesn’t arise on Wins & Losses.
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Inspire Enrich
Wins & Losses, an extremely accurate title to capture the last two years of Meek’s career. Based on how you perceive it, the losses include beef with Drake and Game fuelled by a concoction of things including his past relationship with Nicki Minaj.
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Vulture
Wins & Losses represents a phase of self-assessment, an attempt to clarify the meaning of victory and defeat. Yet aside from a handful of bars on a single track, Meek’s vision is focused on matters more weighty than spats fought with memes.
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Ratings Game Music
More than anything, Meek knows how to make a song stand-out, as he utilizes both his animation and confidence very well. While he isn’t the most experimental rapper that’s out right now, he does show a little versatility on this album, as he chooses to go along with the vibe of some songs. As for his singing, it wasn’t horrible on this album, as he picked times to do it when it was appropriate.
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The Musical Hype
Meek Mill has his moments on Wins and Losses. Wins & Losses has a lot of what you expect from a Meek Mill album, but there are some pleasant surprises as well.
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HNHH
The strength of this album comes more from the And Losses aspects of the work. Meek Mill’s music, traditionally, is chock-full of overwhelming confidence, often acting as a celebration of his wealth and status. These aspects are still prevalent throughout this new body of work, but the entirety of the work is colored by melancholy. The pitfalls of fame, success, and the violence of the streets are very tangible through out Wins and Losses, there is a sadness that permeates even the most triumphant of the records on the tape.
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Dopeness
On wins and losses, we see a side of Meek Mill that we haven’t seen before. He takes his listeners through the struggle and pain of his past years. He is vulnerable but he is stronger now than we were before. Through this pain, he has matured from his mistakes and is focused on his future. This is album encompasses a full spectrum of emotions, below I’ve broken down the album track by track.
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Mad Bees Radio
I think Meek Mill has set the bar extremely high with some of his past intros and “Wins & Losses” didn’t do it for me. I mean he spit and you can feel the pain and emotion in the lyrics; but it didn’t get me excited and wanting to hear more. It was the typical Meek, jewelry, a lavish and flamboyant lifestyle and with a whole lot of money. tIt could have been the beat that didn’t work for me though. Because he was spitting at times but the yelling is a turn off for a lot of listeners. I just expected a bit more as he has spoiled me the latest few major projects.
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Hiphop Won't Stop
Meek Mill has certain “formula” in which he starts all of his albums off with. The formula pretty much consists of “yelling” followed massive amounts of “energy” being expended trying to quite the “haters”… This formula worked out really well with Meek’s debut album “Dreams and Nightmares”, but in 2017 Meek’s “weapon of choice” is getting very “dull” quickly.
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Hip Hop Savvy
His third studio album, out from today, is title-pitched “Wins And Losses” and sits tight with 17 tracks. “It`s a rap album”. That`s how you`ll remember this one.
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Are You VIP
Wins and Losses received generally favorable reviews and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with 102,000 album-equivalent units, of which 37,000 were pure album sales. The album was supported by two singles: Whatever You Need featuring Chris Brown and Ty Dolla Sign, and “Young Black America” featuring The-Dream.
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Lemon Wire
There’s proof on the album that the wins can be bangers though, so it will just be a matter of time before Meek puts it all together. For now he’s a couple losses short.
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Rate Your Music
It's not one of his best projects, and there are certainly some duds on here (especially towards the end), but if you've enjoyed Meek Mill (or Rick Ross, for that matter) to any extent in the pass, I'd give this album a listen. One of the stronger hip-hop releases of the year, so far.
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Album Of The Year
Wins & Losses represents the third studio album by rapper Meek Mill, released in 2017. It features guest appearances from Chris Brown, Future, Rick Ross, Young Thug, The Dream and others. This time, he's more focused and calculated. "The game left him with a heavy heart", his own lyric. The title "Issues" says it all. On "Glow Up", he raps about how he used to be and how he is at the moment, how he came a long way, but he doesn't forget his own problems and the situations that he is dealing with. Wins & Losses tells the story of the man who won many things but still lost many other ones. For example, during his journey, he lost his friend, Lil Snupe, but he mentions him because the real ones don't just disappear. At the end of the day, the album is good, it has many boring moments, but it is worth listening to.
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The Ringer
Taken as a whole, Wins and Losses isn’t a total overhaul of Meek Mill’s musical signatures. It’s more like he’s pared his worst, gimmicky impulses in order to craft a distinct comfort zone in which he speaks a bit more loosely and is generally better at being himself. The neat trick with Wins and Losses is that Meek is no longer a traumatized underdog nor a sore loser, a slick and self-aware pain in the ass. He’s cheeky now, and it’s given his music a fresh edge.
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Music Album
Meek Mill, the Philidelphia underdog has come through with a new album CHAMPIONSHIPS not long after a short summer EP & a 2017 album Wins & Losses.
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All Music
Although Wins and Losses largely picks up where the rapper's preceding DC4 mixtape left off, Meek Mill's third proper album is destined to be known as the one released following his and Nicki Minaj's split.
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Baaz
Meek Mill's new 'Wins & Losses' has some crazy production on it.
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Exclaim
On Wins & Losses, Meek makes a calculated attempt to blend in with rap's mainstream. Rather than assert himself, though, he apes collaborators like Young Thug and Lil Uzi Vert, often mimicking their cadences to an uncanny tee.
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Uproxx
with Wins & Losses, Meek’s third album and newest release from Maybach Music Group through Atlantic Records, currently dominating rap discussion online after a promotional run that included a short film released in episodic installments, a four-song preview EP, and a collection of singles that for the first time didn’t — and couldn’t — feature big name collaborators like Drake and Nicki Minaj. Clearly, the bad blood there has been spilled.
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The Lifestyle
It is clear that Meek is no longer just chasing his dreams, he is now turning them into championships… and he’s doing so successfully.
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Hip Hop
This album is very formulaic in terms of its structure. If you’ve listened to a project from Meek Mill you know that he starts with a breathtaking intro but begins chasing radio hits with his singles while filling it in with a couple solid tracks. This makes Wins & Losses no different from his past releases, only showing flashes of change with a few songs on the 17 track release.
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A Young Gold Man
There are many things to love on this album. Meek Mill was already a fantastic rapper, and even during his stint battling Drake, it was never a question if Meek was a top tier rapper. Meek doesn’t feel to be pressured to subscribe to the “Aye” flow that is popular with a lot of Atlanta rappers. He doesn’t seem to care to fit into molding that isn’t his own, which is beyond refreshing in 2017.
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Pop Matters
His albums tend to follow a clear formula and Wins & Losses is no different. There is a blend of street observations, boastful reflection, clique tracks and pop-rap collaborations. Running at 17 tracks, the album is also too long, particularly with the content being so repetitive, and Meek’s personality appears all too fleetingly.
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Brent Music Reviews
Wins & Losses has a lot of what you expect from a Meek Mill album, but there are some pleasant surprises as well.
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Medium
Meek Mill’s highly anticipated third album is finally here! It has been a journey of relationship breakups, rap beefs, loss of loved ones and much more which were instrumental to this body of work. Overall, this album highlights Meek Mill’s growth as an artist whilst staying true to his roots and serving his core fan base.
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The Boombox
Wins & Losses is also the first studio album from Meek Mill now that his epic clash of the titans with Drake, various rap beefs, and his breakup with Nicki Minaj are in his rear-view. Wins & Losses is a redeeming effort on the part of Meek Mill, as he turns in what is being championed as his most impressive body of work to date.
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Pulse
Meek doesn’t push the envelope here, sticking in his comfort zones and providing material from his immediate surrounding. “Wins & Losses” is a great project for Meek fans, but if you wanted more growth, you have to wait for it on the next project.
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TFC
The album features collaborations from artists such as Future, Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug, Quavo and more.
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The Fader
Wins & Losses — which featured more introspective and analytical tracks than any of his previous albums — Meek put a magnifying glass on the tragic fate that is virtually predetermined for many Black youths in “Young Black America” with a tender hook from The-Dream.
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2bing
Wins & Losses mixes dark, gothic beats and punchy, blurting collaborations with younger voices.
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True Star
Meek Mill has always been consistent both lyrically and musically. His songs always had some type of substance and I will never say that he had a wack moment.
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Talk House
Wins and some Losses starts out hella strong, but halfway through, I realized the main reason I wanted to review it was to write a defense of Meek’s Drake diss track. But the album’s good, too…better than anything Drake put out, for what that’s worth.
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Pinnacle Pop
Wins & Losses is a project with synergy and fresh content, the story behind it has the ability to inspire anybody. The sound is instrumental and has a lot of deep keys that allow the listener to drift into a cinematic vision of what is being painted by Meek.
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Apple Music
He had a bumpy few years, between the Drake feud, the death of compatriots, and his breakup with Nicki Minaj, but Philadelphia firebrand Meek Mill sounds as determined as ever, rapping in his signature panicked blare, as if he’s just sprinted miles to the booth. Wins & Losses mixes dark, gothic beats and punchy, blurting collaborations with younger voices, like Lil Uzi Vert (“F**k That Check Up”) or an emotional Young Thug on the weepy “We Ball.”
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Spin
Wins & Losses is his first album since 2015’s Dreams Worth More Than Money, and a lot has happened since then—particularly his verbal scuffles with Drake, and his breakup with Nicki Minaj. Meek Mill has still remained fairly busy since DWMTM, dropping the mixtape DC4 and the bite-sized Meekend Music series.
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Sputnik Music
Meek knows something about wins & losses. And sure his shouty style can get shrill, but you gotta respect his refusal to be bogged down through the mess-o-guests -- resolute yet loose as ever, tricky wordsmith and hook-man when he wants to be, grittily vivid but perhaps too often gross or greedy or generic. Overt obstacle is how overstuffed it is, undeniable are the load of lavish beats and handful of true-blue bangers.
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