Is Meek Mills wrong?
Mike “The Visionary” Cotton
Not only is Meek Mill beefing with Tekashi 6ix9ine, but he’s also been catching backlash from Kobe Bryant fans. Recently, I’ve noticed the various disputes across social media between Kobe Bryant fans and Meek Mill fans about a leak of a track entitled “Don’t Worry” by Meek Mill (featuring Lil Baby). The two fan bases have been arguing over whether Meek’s verse on his leaked song was offensive towards the Bryant family or not. Within his verse he says, “Yeah, and if I ever lack, I’m goin’ out with my chopper, it’ll be another Kobe.” On Monday night, the late Kobe Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Bryant responded to Meek Mill via her Instagram story by stating, “I find this line to be extremely insensitive and disrespectful. Period.. I am not familiar with any of your music, but I believe you can do better than this. If you are a fan, fine, there’s a better way to show your admiration for my husband. This lacks respect and tact.” On Tuesday, Meek Mill took to twitter to address the masses, and let them know that he privately apologized to Vanessa Bryant and the Bryant family, and that if they care about someone grieving, then change the subject.
When I initially read about this story, I found myself on the Bryant family’s side, I felt that a grieving
family shouldn’t have to hear something like that, especially so soon after they’ve lost their loved one. When I first listened to the verse I was genuinely confused as to why he even mentioned Kobe Bryant; identical to the confusion I had when I heard Da Baby’s verse about JoJo Siwa in his “Beatbox Freestyle”. Now, when it comes to this Meek verse, I find myself stuck somewhere in the middle between both arguments coming from these two fan bases. On one hand, this verse offended the grieving family of one of the most influential athletes on and off the court. On the other hand, this verse could’ve been taken well out of context. If you break the verse down, Meek Mill could possibly be saying that if he’s ever lacking, he’ll go down with his “chopper” (gun). The “it’ll be another Kobe” could be a representation of how he feels his own death would not only have an effect on South Philly, but the rest of the world as well. In regard to that possible message, Vanessa Bryant was right; if that was Meek Mill attempting to shoutout Kobe Bryant’s legacy, he could have done it differently. If his intention behind the verse was positive, then the words should’ve been clear enough for everyone to understand that. Not everyone that listens to rap music knows that a chopper is a gun, and Meek should’ve also foreseen the repercussions of that verse before he even decided to record it. The slightest change could’ve prevented all of this; instead of chopper, Meek had numerous words that he could’ve said and people probably wouldn’t be offended because Kobe Bryant wasn’t shot dead. People listening would have a better understanding of what Meek was truly saying.
