Wednesday 12/9: Meek Mill—"GTA" Feat. 42 Dugg
Today, we share our thoughts on a new song by the Philly rapper Meek Mill that features the Detroit rapper 42 Dugg.
Welcome to Endless Scroll, the brainchild of Eli Enis (he/him) and Eric Bennett (they/them). Since Feb. 2019, we’ve been a weekly podcast about music, the internet, and where those two things intersect. Now we’re, also a M-F newsletter about songs. Our format is simple: a link to a song and a short take from each of us about what we think of it. Each day of the week has a corresponding genre: Monday is indie, Tuesday is punk, Wednesday is hip-hop, Thursday is pop, and Friday is misc.
Today, we share our thoughts on a new song by the Philly rapper Meek Mill that features the Detroit rapper 42 Dugg.
Meek Mill—"GTA" Feat. 42 Dugg
Michael Brooks:
Meek Mill quietly dropped the QUARANTINE PACK EP a few weeks back, four decent-to-good tracks that aren’t necessarily essential listening but the project serves more or less an appetizer to tide fans over until Meek drops his next album. The EP’s best track, “GTA,” features a verse from 42 Dugg who’s been on a real tear this year, with appearances on Big Sean’s Detroit 2 and a couple of scene-stealing verses on Lil Baby’s My Turn. As an MC, 42 Dugg splits the difference between the hard-hitting energy of Detroit rap (where he’s originally from) with the melodic croon of Atlanta’s trap scene, mashing both genres together into something entirely new.
Maybe I’m being a bit too hyperbolic, but there’s something genuinely exciting about hearing a 42 Dugg verse, and in a year filled with so many great rap albums, 42 Dugg has still been able to cut through all of the noise and stand out from the crowd. On “GTA,” 42 Dugg brings out a long-lost side of Meek Mill—over a thumping beat, Meek raps with the same urgency that defined his earliest hits, evoking songs like “House Party” and “Believe It” on this sub-three minute slapper (Eli, do the kids still say slapper?). But even when he brings his ‘A’ game, Meek can’t help but be overshadowed by 42 Dugg, a star in the making whose energetic flow is more than worth the price of admission for QUARANTINE PACK.
Eli Enis:
I don’t think you’re being hyperbolic, Michael. I genuinely feel a rush of excitement every time I see 42 Dugg’s name pop up on a song. He has the two most memorable guest moments on Lil Baby’s iconic My Turn (“Grace” and “We Paid”), he’s a welcome presence on that Rylo Rodriguez album, and his own 2020 outing, Young & Turnt 2, has a handful of soaring high-points. Before this Meek Mill song I was fully prepared to say that 42 Dugg is the rapper I’m most excited about going into 2021, since we’ll probably get a proper album from him at some point next year. And after hearing his feature on “GTA”, I’m doubling down on that sentiment.
Like Michael said, Meek Mill is at his best when he’s yelling into the mic over a hair-raising beat that translates the nerve-wracking scream of police sirens into song. I think there were moments of greatness on his 2018 album Championships, but that type of rap hasn’t been his bread and butter for a while now—but it sure as hell is for 42 Dugg. On his most noteworthy feature, Lil Baby’s “We Paid”, Dugg keeps his temper intact while dishing out flexes through his slurry, squeaky drawl. He has a really strong grasp on cadence and delivery—much in the way Lil Baby does—but the reason I’m so optimistic about a bona fide solo career is that he can also Jekyll and Hyde into a screeching maniac with the rootin’ tootin’ bombast of a fired up Yosemite Sam.
Meek’s verse on “GTA” is quite good and double the length of Dugg’s, but his entrance on this beat is the equivalent of the adrenaline shot scene in Pulp Fiction. It doesn’t matter that his first line is completely unintelligible and that he’s rapping faster than his mouth is capable of moving because he just sounds so fucking gripping and electrifying and commanding in a way few other rappers of his ilk do. I don’t even think his lyrical content on this verse is particularly interesting, but it’s the way he says lines like, “I'm half-rapper, whole-trapper, I got bad luck,” with the confidence of Scrappy Doo that make me so elated to hear him on the mic.
I don’t want to say 42 Dugg steals the song because I do genuinely love Meek’s verse and it even seems like he structured the track around giving 42 Dugg a co-sign, especially with these clever bars that come a few measures before Dugg’s entrance: “Sipping on that 1942, I got my .40 tucked / Oh, you got your .40 too? Nigga, I got 40 of 'em .” Meek will forever be a great of the 2010s for being able to merge clever wordplay and emotional introspection with his DMX-indebted bluster. But man, this is one of my favorite rap songs of the year and I cannot wait for whatever the young Dugg puts into the world in 2021.