Meek Mill's Dreamchasers Tour With Yo Gotti, Bow Wow, and Ace Hood in Miami, August 13

See the full 31-photo slideshow of Meek Mill at Fillmore Miami Beach -- plus "Meek Mill on Dreams & Nightmares Debut: 'The Dream Is Gettin' Paid for What I Love, The Nightmare Was Makin' It to This Point.'"

Meek Mill's Dreamchasers Tour

Monday, August 13, 2012

Better Than: An educational experience without expletives.

Welcome to Dreamchasing 101, motherfucker.

Your instructor's gonna be Dream Team leader, Maybach Music member, and Rick Ross protege Meek Mill. And you will need a fully equipped kitchen, a "9 Piece," some naked ladies, stacks of cash to the ceiling, and a bunch of jumbo-size Ziploc bags.

As we here at Crossfade have previously pointed out, Meek is a wise man who learned 1,000,001 lessons while coming up on the streets of Philly. And he just can't stop spreading the word.

Hence, his current 16-city Dreamchasers solo tour, which hit the Fillmore Miami Beach last night. And yeah, the learning started straight away at the merch table.

Lesson #1: "Scared Money Don't Make No Money ... Amen." Oh, and always buy a t-shirt.

By 9:23 p.m., opener Casey Veggies (a recent graduate of Dreamchasing 101, BTW) had finished his swaggy set and ceded the stage to DJ Drama, not to mention two of the night's youngest students.

Obviously, these kids still haven't grown their hustlin' muscles. But they definitely aced the humping portion of class. You should've seen their flawless arms-behind-the-back booty busters when Drama dropped Waka Flocka's "No Hands."

Lesson #2: When there's a rager goin' on, you gotta be the guy controlling the bottle of complimentary champagne.

Unfortunately, Crossfade failed to snatch some sparkling wine at the Fillmore. The main reason: A member of Meek's crew had been anointed official party starter. And his grip on the bottle was firm as a motherfucker.

So we simply watched as he fed free bubbly shots to all the front-row babes. Then when he got bored and Mr. Mill's arrival became imminent ... Homie just shook it up and sprayed the crowd with approximately a C-note's worth.

Lesson #3: Always waste that fizzy shit. It makes you look rich.

Now that all of Meek's students smelled like superexpensive booze, he commenced class, grabbing the mike and easing into "Intro" off his Dreamchasers 2 mixtape.

That whole tape's required listening. Ditto Dreamchasers 1. And just to make sure that we didn't arrive unprepared, Mr. Mill asked, "Who's got that Dreamchasers shit? Everyone who's fuckin' with it, put your hand up.

Still not satisfied, he added extra clauses to the question: "If you got Dreamchasers 1, put a finger in the air. And if you got Dreamchasers 2, throw a double up."

Lesson #5: Do your fuckin' homework. Also, buy Meek's debut MMG album, Dreams & Nightmares, in October.

Next, Meek ripped through a series of instructive bangers that touched on topics such as "stuntin' all on my old hoes, styling all on my haters" ("Flexin' on 'Em"), staying "strapped up and racked out" ("Racked Up Shawty"), and how "hatin'" is a "flagrant foul" ("Finals").

But then he paused a moment to deliver Lesson #6: "If you a pretty lady, you can't be fuckin' no ordinary niggas! But that said, y'all niggas can't be let these hoes be 'Actin Up'!"

With the "ordinary niggas" deservedly abandoned by their "hoes," Meek brought out Yo Gotti, the first guest spitter of the night. And together, they dropped that street knowledge known as "Don't Panic."

Then after a quick freestyle over Kanye's remix of the Chief Keef track "I Don't Like," Mr. Mill broke away from his rap to say, "Lemme do this one time," snapping a iPhone pic of his assembled students and asking, "Who follow me on Instagram?"

Lesson #7: Social media is an absolutely essential tool for the 21st-century hustler. Oh, and follow @MeekMill on Instagram for extra credit.

A couple of songs ("Tupac Back" and "Work") later, Mr. Mill reminded us again about the required listening: "If you goin' from the top to the bottom, you should be listenin' to that Dreamchasers shit," he said, pausing to emphasized the point. "And this ['Use to Be'] should be your motherfuckin' anthem."

Lesson #8: Don't settle for "selling coke" or "soap" or "hope." Try records and t-shirts. That'll get your money right, i.e. keep the IRS from busting your ass for tax evasion like Capone.

Amid a single-song appearance ("The Cypher") by another surprise Dreamchasing assistant instructor -- Bow Wow! -- and a medley of MMG greatest hits ("9 Piece," "B.M.F.," "Stay Schemin'," "Bag of Money"), Meek took a quick break from class to sign some CDs for his most eager, learning-starved students.

He scribbled his mark on a copy of Dreamchasers 1. And a copy of Dreamchasers 2. And a brand-new Dreams & Nightmares tee. But then he was back to teachables, explaining, "In life, you gonna have a lot of fake friends. So you gotta stick with your real homies."

Lesson #9: Real homies support your hustle. Thus, fans aren't fake friends. Autograph their shit.

Finally, with the bell about to ring on Dreamchasing 101, Meek instigated the rap equivalent of an intense cram session, slamming us with his Dreamchasers 2 remake of The Fugees' "Ready or Not," followed by a "fat ass"-shaking (though illuminating) take of "Face Down," as well as MMG's ode to the initiated and graduated, "So Sophisticated."

But still, Mr. Mill wasn't done. There was exactly enough time remaining before the end of class for a few final studies in aspirational grind. And he welcomed one last guest spitter -- Ace Hood! -- to help drive it all home.

Lesson #10: If you want "A1 Everything," you must "Hustle Hard." So don't stop "Ballin' Like a Bitch." Or else you may never utter the words, "Ima Boss."

Also, "Amen."

Critic's Notebook

Bonus Lesson: Every boss needs a Bawse. Get yourself a Ricky Rozay.

Best Pickup Line: "Ladies! If you pussy clean ... Scream!"

Inspirational Parting Words: "Keep Dreamchasin'."

Meek Mill's Setlist

-"Intro" (Dreamchasers 2)

-"Flexin on 'Em"

-"Racked Up Shawty"

-"Tony Montana" (Freestyle on Future)

-"Finals"

-"Actin' Up"

-"Don't Panic" (With Yo Gotti)

-"Black Magic"

-"I Don't Like" (Freestyle on Kanye West)

-"No Lie" (Freestyle on 2 Chainz)

-"Ambitionz az a Ridah" (Freestyle on Tupac)

-"Tupac Back"

-"Work"

-"Tony Story"

-"Use to Be"

-"The Cypher" (With Bow Wow)

-"Lean Wit It"

-"9 Piece"

-"B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)"

-"I'm Rollin'"

-"Stay Schemin'"

-"Bag of Money"

-"Ready or Not"

-"Face Down"

-"6 Foot 7 Foot" (Freestyle on Lil Wayne)

-"So Sophisticated"

-"Body Count"

-"A1 Everything"

-"House Party"

-"Hustle Hard" (With Ace Hood)

-"B.L.A.B. (Ballin Like a Bitch)"

-"Ima Boss"

-"Amen"

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