There was a time when a promising Meek Mill and Adrien Broner were making rounds in their respective industries. Broner was a serious force at the 135-pound division; eventually becoming the champion by defeating Antonio DeMarco. After beating Gavin Rees in a title defense, “The Problem” moved up to the 147-pound class.
In the weight division Broner fought, and outclassed, Paulie Malignaggi in a split-decision victory. This gave him three world titles in three weight classes in less than two years.
During this span the Cincinnati-born boxer gained enormous fame in the boxing world that spilled into mainstream media. It’s said that fame doesn’t change you, it just makes you more of what you already are. We’ve managed to see a sextape, making it rain in strip clubs, suspended for making racial remarks, and just being an all-around douche.
However, the humbling is unavoidable.
In December of 2013, Adrien Broner suffered his first loss at the heavy hands of Marcos Maidana. Broner was dropped twice during the bout and eventually lost in a unanimous decision.
Did that slow down his fast life? No.
The Problem continued his ways by posing with guns and calling out Rihanna.
So what did the universe send Broner? Shawn Porter. The scrappy Porter barreled his way through the June 2015 bout. The constant pressure proved to frustrate and leave Broner a bit tentative throughout the match. Conversely, Broner did put Porter on the canvas with a left hook during the 12th round, but that wasn’t enough as the judges ruled in favor of fellow Ohio native Shawn Porter.
Now he’s seemingly the butt of most boxing jokes, as he looks to repair his image.
Then there’s Robert Rahmeek Williams a.k.a. Meek Mill. The Philly rapper who rose to fame after releasing “House Party” and a collab with, now nemesis, Drake on “Amen.” His brash, street, and loud persona had a vice grip on most listeners. Meek Mill was inescapable, and this was good thing since the music was of great quality. Meek Mill was the next up to bat, walking up to the plate with the utmost confidence, ready to smack it out the ballpark.
Meek’s ascension in the music industry was met with open arms from the public. Then he dropped the song that ultimately made him a staple in hip-hop — the intro to Dreams and Nightmares. The sky was the limit for Meek Mill. After more collaborations with Rick Ross, Wale, Drake, French Montana, Big Sean, and every artist under the sun; MMG’s wunderkind was becoming a bonafide star.
And then Meek tweets this out to Wale, and this was the start of his descent.
Wale just ain't gone tweet a thing about my album…. He's been hating on me long time now …don't even text me cornball! #UNOTMMG
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) July 8, 2014
I don't need no support…It's about a lot of these dudes really b hating behind closed doors..All these guys that's on the rap scene kno
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) July 8, 2014
A tell tale sign was these tweets, further letting us know that he’s a reactionary person. Simply put, he stays in his emotions. These tweets were just the beginning, as many of you know by now, that thumb thuggery like this will only garner a sea of side-eyes.
Now we have his infamous tweet to Drake about ghostwriting.
Stop comparing drake to me too…. He don't write his own raps! That's why he ain't tweet my album because we found out! ?
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) July 22, 2015
Much like Broner, Rahmeek was riding high as Charlie Sheen on Tuesday afternoon. He felt untouchable; having the number one album in the country can do that for your ego. Dreams Worth More Than Money was dominating the charts, and didn’t need anymore promotion. However, a Drake cosign could do wonders, but realize that he’s in place that a cosign won’t do much. We can’t discount the fact that Nicki Minaj’s Barbz helped boost sales, but that’s whatever.
Basking in his glory over the controversial tweet, and having fans scour the internet for proof this Quentin Miller character, who denied ghostwriting claims, Drake debuts “Charged Up.” The diss track was played at least six times on OVO Sound Radio over the course of 15 minutes. The internet exploded. How could soft ass Drake put out a diss track instead of tweeting a response? What Drizzy did was take it back to the essence of hip-hop battles — made a record.
With the Drake track in the atmosphere, we all waited, and waited. Then it happened, Toronto’s 6 God unleashed another diss record titled “Back To Back” which obliterated Meek in every way possible. The precision in each verb, adjective, noun, felt like a swift right hook from Maidana. Meek shuffling and stumbling to gather his thoughts and redeem himself, put out a blah-worthy response track to Drake. Moreover, fans of all ilks weren’t pleased by this dud of a record.
Meek Mill and Adrien Broner are victims of their own success, stubbornness, and certainty. The road to recovery will be a long and tedious one, but their careers aren’t over by a long shot. Hopefully, this test of humility will resonate over time.