Too Good To Be True

For a certain kind of rap fan, the sound of an Australian woman giggling, “What is this? I like this Maybach Music…” is like hearing from an old friend. In the early 2010s, Rick Ross’ MMG label was a serious contender for the hottest squad in hip-hop. While the Teflon Don barked about Big Meech over earth-shaking Lex Luger beats, Meek Mill was bellowing fire-and-brimstone missives in all caps. In the decade since, the two have traded the occasional guest verse, but when they hinted at a full-length collaboration in the fall of 2023, it seemed, well, too good to be true. (To be fair, the project was written in the stars, Meek’s real name being Robert Williams and Rozay’s William Roberts II.) There are a few hints across *Too Good to Be True* signaling that the year is not, in fact, 2012: “This bandemic infectious,” the Jamaican singer BEAM warbles on the Tears for Fears-sampling “Go to Hell,” a sentiment that might be lost on early-2010s time travelers. But for the most part, it’s a glorious return to peak form. Meek sounds as hungry as ever, though these days the former Philly battle rapper is power-lunching with Tom Brady. (“Talking ’bout his girl problems—I can’t lie, I related.”) As for Rozay, he’s as iconically ostentatious as he was in his prime, sailing over grown-and-sexy beats like a mega-yacht on Biscayne Bay and boasting about his pet buffaloes. (No, seriously, look it up.) Thunderous anthems like the French Montana-featuring “Millionaire Row” and Future collab “In Luv With the Money” are direct portals to the strip club circa 2012. But the bosses’ biggest coup is the remix of lead single “SHAQ & KOBE,” which tags in Dame D.O.L.L.A., the rap alter ego of the Bucks’ Damian Lillard, and snags a verse from fellow NBA rap G.O.A.T. Shaq Diesel where he promises to “bring the drama ’til he’s with the Mamba.”

There was a time when Rick Ross and Meek Mill dominated all before them. Two key figures in hip-hop’s 21stcentury arc, they fought their way to the top,