★★☆☆☆
Meek Mill’s Expensive Pain struggles to keep its best moments afloat as painfully generic lyrics and beats drag the rest of the album down.
Atlanta battle rapper Meek Mill has returned after a three-year hiatus with his fifth album Expensive Pain, released on Oct. 1. His last few years have been filled with legal issues and prison time. During that time he also joined up with Jay-Z to fight for criminal justice reform. But, Expensive Pain only touches on this part of Mill’s history briefly, never really dwelling on it. In fact, the only song that focuses on Mill’s prison time for more than an instance is “Blue Notes 2.” Instead of laying bare the vulnerabilities that come with spending time in prison and advocating for criminal justice reform, Mill produced some of the most generic lyricism on Expensive Pain.
Beyond falling back on the sex and money tropes in his lyrics, Mill offers some fleeting moments of insight into his life. He talks about how he hates the idea of needing bulletproof glass in his cars and how he wants to raise his sons right. On the other hand, “Blue Notes 2” dives deep into ideas like seeing the dead friend’s mother at his funeral to being the richest man in the prison. But these ideas just aren’t fleshed out enough to save the album. They appear for an instant, and then Meek loses interest in them.
Meek’s beats also fall flat on this album. There are a few high points. “Blue Notes 2” has one of the most energetic and fun beats on the album. “Hot” catches fire early on, with a mix of electronic beats and Mill’s rapid delivery of lyrics. The chorus of a medley of voices in the background of “Sharing Locations” helps save an otherwise generic song and really punctuates every lyric on the track. But, most of the beats on Expensive Pain are just forgettable.
The features on the album are a bit of a mixed bag. Kehlani dominates on “Ride for You” with her smooth voice while Mill struggles to keep that energy going. Although Mill doesn’t give her a verse, Kehlani’s chorus makes the song. It sounds more like a Meek Mill feature on a Kehlani track than the reverse. Meanwhile, Mill kills “Blue Notes 2” and Lil Uzi Vert’s verse feels out of place on that track. The beat on that track is quick and energetic, but then loses momentum as it slows down for Uzi’s bridge.
Despite some strong moments on the album, including Kehlani’s feature and Mill’s moments of vulnerability on “Blue Notes 2,” Mill spends most of his time on Expensive Pain running with unoriginal lyrics and underdeveloped moments that if just pushed a little further could have made the album an intimate portrayal of Mill’s journey with the criminal justice system. After a hiatus from music since 2018 with his previous album Championship, Mill could have returned to the music scene with a bang. Instead, Expensive Pain fades into the background of the rap genre.
Featured Image Courtesy of Atlantic Records and Maybach Music Group
