A half-million have watched him on YouTube.
Mixtape buyers love him. He's got 14 of them on the market.
"More, maybe," says Meek Mill. "I lost count."
He's been called hip-hop's first social media superstar, a viral Internet icon who works the web like rappers of yore worked two turntables and a microphone.
Still, one of the greatest measures of the 24-year-old Philadelphia MC's success has been on the stage. Take Powerhouse, Power 99-FM's annual radio concert bash at Wells Fargo Center. Every time Mill plays it, he draws more applause than its stars.
Drake, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj — all have played Powerhouse. Meek Mill ruled.
"He's been opening up for Powerhouse for the last three years and he gets the same reception," says Cosmic Kev, the Power 99 DJ who broke Mill big when he dropped 2007's "In My Bag" into his radio shows. Like many in Philly, Kev had known about Mill's rep for freestyling, fast beats and hummable melody forever. "Meek's been around for 10 years, yet for the last four he's been doing it," says Kev. "Each song gets catchier. And bigger. That's with no major label or backing involved."
That's all changing, now that Miami-based hip-hop kingpin Rick Ross has signed him to his Maybach Music division of Warner Bros. The first fruits of their labor, the MMG Presents: Self Made, Vol. 1 compilation, featuring Mill cuts like "Ima Boss" and "Tupac Back," came out in May.
There are more collaborations with the label boss in the mix, as well. "My thought process for choosing the selected few for MMG was about moving forward with those who I feel had the potential to blossom into some of the best artists of this time," says Ross. "I got that feeling from watching Meek on his come-up in Philly."
"I miss the up-tempo stuff, but for now Ross is steering him into a more internationally accepted sound," says Kev. Mill's first major-label CD will surely follow both routes.
Despite kudos and label deals, it's business as usual for Meek Mill. "I just want to be the best I can be," he says during a quiet time between filming a video for MMG 's "By Any Means" at his 31st and Diamond stomping grounds and heading to Camden to open a show for Lil Wayne.
The kid born Robert Rahmeek Williams didn't exclusively think about rapping while attending Frederick Douglass Elementary or jumping between his parents' separate residences. His mom, Cathy, lived in North Philly, near 23rd and Birch, and his dad, Robert Parker, lived South at 18th and Catharine.
"One minute a skateboarder, next a basketballer or a boxer," says Mill. "You want to be something." Crediting the influence of his "heroes" such as his father, a part-time musician who was killed during a robbery, and his uncle, Grandmaster Nell of Philly's Punk Funk Nation, meant that hip-hop was a pre-eminent force in Mill's life. "I got into their music at age 6 or 7. It was constant."
Meek started rapping at 12 and got known quickly for his battle verses and freestyles. He looked up to Philly's own Beanie Sigel, Freeway and The Roots' Black Thought. "They opened the door," says Mill. By age 14 he hooked up with several North Philly MC and DJ cliques where recording techniques came down to hooking up a microphone into a tiny stereo tape recorder and blowing. But Mill didn't stay a part of any crew. Blame ambition.
"Everybody doesn't work at the same pace or happen to have the same drive," he says. "I was pressing it, taking it seriously." Mill began developing a style. Lyrically, there was violence and bad times, the usual mean-streets stuff, but there was hopefulness and fanciful diversions like diamonds and fine wine, too. The words weren't merely about rap's fascination with consumerism. It was all about a way out. "I'm always chasing my dreams," he says.
Beyond the lyrics, though, was Mill's music, melodies that filled early mixtapes like Best of Meek Mill Part 1, The Real Me and the 2007 start of his highly notable Flamerz series, of which there are currently five. The songs were catchy as hell.
"Philly has outstanding rappers, but the difference between Meek and a lot of locals is that he knows how to make a song," says Cosmic Kev, who compares Mill's case to the difference between ballers in the AND1 leagues and NBA pros. "The AND1 cats are talented and can do tricks, but as far as the NBA goes, they can't make that transition," says the DJ. "Mill is NBA-worthy."
Mill is a master of both sides — the street and the stadium. He could freestyle for an hour and come up with a dozen memorable musical hooks with up-tempo beats. "The Fresh Prince could do it, freestyle like mad and make songs you'd remember," recalls Kev.
Starting around 2004, Mill's friends began videotaping his street performances and putting them up on YouTube and onto DVDs with titles like Head Shot. "I didn't even realize they were putting them up. Suddenly I'd have people telling me they saw me," says Mill, who didn't even know how to upload videos at the time.
He got onto MySpace and began pumping his music there because it was "the only thing I had — free promotion." And of course there were the mixtapes. "I used to go to Target, buy $50 worth of blank CDs, then hand them out. People would burn them or download them, then spread them." By 2009 he joined Twitter, and has posted more than 20,000 tweets to 10 times as many followers. He was a viral revolutionary of nu-rap. "It's not just about how many hits you can get and how many Facebook likes you get," says Cosmic Kev. "It's the live game, too."
That and "In My Bag" is how the on-air DJ got the radio station to push the Meek agenda. Station execs saw him live and wanted audiences to hear more of him. Will Smith's ex-bodyguard-turned-promoter, Charlie Mack, caught wind and became Mill's manager. "Charlie steered me for a minute," notes Mill, who says their parting was amicable. Mack introduced Mill to MC/label owner/actor T.I., who was ready to sign him to his Grand Hustle/Atlantic imprint when Mill got arrested on gun charges in 2008 and wound up at a State Road correctional facility for eight months.