Too soon, Meek. Philly rapper Meek Mill caught the wrath of Black Twitter Wednesday night when a leaked snippet of a new track made its way online. Listeners were mad, disappointed, but somehow not surprised to hear Meek Mill rap about the death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant. It’s a goofy move even for a man who’s called his own behavior “very clownish,†and, funnily enough, it wasn’t in reference to his feud with Tekashi 6ix9ine. “I’ll go out with my choppa it’ll be another Kobe,†he raps in the since copyright-claimed clip. Fans of the Lakers star (also known as humans) saw the line as insensitive. It’s been just over a year since Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other adults and young people died in a tragic helicopter crash in Calabasas. So, yeah, it was not well-received.
Meek Mill has been having a rough one. Days ago, he got into a brawl with Tekashi 6ix9ine in a club parking lot in Miami. The rappers, 33 and 24, respectively, are both far too grown to be beefing in club parking lots. Mill clarified his side of the story in a series of tweets on Sunday, then he dropped a clip of an upcoming track where he disses 6ix9ine. “You a bitch, he a rat / You on the ’gram, like, who is that?†he raps. The feud no one asked for originated when Meek Mill openly asked Tekashi 6ix9ine to apologize “to the people he told on or the victim,†upon his early release from prison. Fight all you want, just keep it socially distanced. In the words of Hazel London, queen of Bella Noche, “Why would you bring this to somebody else club? That’s sad.â€
Update, February 23 at 7:40 a.m.: Vanessa Bryant, the late Kobe Bryant’s widow, openly addressed the controversial Meek Mill lyric on her Instagram Story. “Dear @meekmill, I find this line to be extremely insensitive and disrespectful,†she wrote. “Period. I am not familiar with any of your music, but I believe you can do better than this. If you are a fan, fine, there’s a better way to show your admiration for my husband. This lacks respect and tact.†Less than a half hour later, Meek Mill tweeted and later deleted “I’m going back savage in this shit … f#%k ya feelings.†Several users replied his late-night tweets asking him to apologize to the Bryants, while his fans noted that several other rappers have also written lyrics about Bryant’s death, including Lil Wayne. “I apologized to her in private earlier today not to the public…†he clarified a couple of hours later. “Nothing I say on my page directed to a internet viral moment or the family of a grieving woman! If you care about someone grieving change the subject!â€