Trapped in the shell of his former self

I get that people aren’t really into Meek Mill anymore, and I understand why, ha. Personally, I’ve always liked Meek more or less, so it sucks to see where we are with him in 2025. When I saw that this Indie Pack (Vol. 01) was dropping, I really wanted to like it. At his best, I love Meek—the high energy, the street content. Unfortunately, that’s not what we got with Indie Pack (Vol. 01).

At only four songs and eleven minutes long, there’s very little room to miss if you want something like this to feel meaningful in a discography. “SAVE YOURSELF” kicks things off and lands squarely in the lane of Meek Mill songs I’ve never liked: beats that try to blend uplifting background vocals with thumping, trap-adjacent cores. With Meek’s style, I just rarely vibe with these kinds of tracks. “HOW FAR WE’VE COME” follows basically the exact same formula and gets the same reaction from me. Neither song is terrible, but I wouldn’t call either one good either.

“FREE SMOKE” is the one track here that actually stands out to me—even then, it feels like too little, too late. It’s a solid song, but it doesn’t come anywhere close to Meek at his peak; the energy is more like a whisper. The closer, “4TH OF JULY,” is pretty much identical to the first two tracks. It’s a little better thanks to Fridayy on the hook, but it’s still more likely to bore me to sleep than get me hyped. Lyrically, there are some good bars mixed with a bunch of very average ones. None of the verses or hooks from Meek were strong enough to really pull me in.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the spark that’s going to revive things for Meek Mill, but I’m not the type to tell him to stop trying. I still think he has it in him to come back musically, yet it’s going to take some real movement. This Indie Pack isn’t making more than a small splash. If he wants to matter again, in my opinion, he needs to return to the hungry, high-energy street style he blew up with—and this ain’t that.

Standout Tracks: N/A

Album Rating: 👑👑👑👑 (4.5/10)