2021 studio album by Meek Mill
Expensive Pain is the fifth studio album by American rapper Meek Mill . It was released on October 1, 2021, through Atlantic Records And Maybach Music Group . The production on the album was handled by multiple producers including Boi-1da , Tay Keith , Vinylz , 30 Roc , Cardo and Sevn Thomas among others. The album also features guest appearances from Lil Baby , Lil Durk , Kehlani , ASAP Ferg , Moneybagg Yo , Giggs , Young Thug , Vory , Lil Uzi Vert , and Brent Faiyaz .[ 1]
Expensive Pain was supported by three singles: "Flamerz Flow", "Sharing Locations " and "Blue Notes 2 ". The album received generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics, and was a commercial success. It debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 95,000 album-equivalent units in its first week.[ 2]
Meek announced the album, cover art, and release date on September 15, 2021.[ 3] He revealed the tracklist on September 30, the day before the album was released.[ 4] The album cover art was made by modern artist Nina Chanel Abney .[ 5]
Singles
Three singles preceded the album's release. "Flamerz Flow" is a bonus track, and it was released with a music video on May 31, 2021, to his YouTube channel, being officially released three days later.[ 6] "Sharing Locations " featuring Lil Baby and Lil Durk was released on August 27 with a video as the second single.[ 7] Then "Blue Notes 2 " featuring Lil Uzi Vert was the third single, released with a video five days later and performed live on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on September 21.[ 8] [ 9]
Critical reception
Expensive Pain was met with generally mixed to positive reviews. At Metacritic , which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 64, indicating “generally favorable reviews”, based on six reviews.[ 10]
A.D. Amorosi of Variety praised Meek's progression with this effort calling "Expensive Pain Mill’s best, most fully rounded recorded effort: an album that finally portrays all sides of the rapper’s rise, fall, struggles and revivals, to say nothing of his skills as a writer and as an aggressive flow-acist." He also prasied Mill's braggadocios approach to many of the songs on the project, saying that "Mill comes out with hope and real brio on his side – a confidence that goes way beyond any mere humble-brag or boast."[ 16]
Expensive Pain debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 95,000 album-equivalent units (including 10,000 copies in pure album sales) in its first week.[ 2] This became Meek Mill's fifth US top-ten debut on the chart.[ 2] The album also accumulated a total of 110.53 million on-demand streams from the songs on the project.[ 2] In its second week, the album dropped to number four on the chart, earning an additional 46,000 units.[ 17]
Track listing
Standard edition Title Writer(s) 1. "Intro (Hate on Me)" 2:55 2. "Outside (100 MPH)" R. Williams LaTour Trey Davis Dominik Patrzek 3:19 3. "On My Soul" R. Williams Anthony Cruz Eduardo Earle Adi Helic Billy Holmdahl John Lucas 2:22 4. "Sharing Locations " (featuring Lil Baby and Lil Durk ) 2:41 5. "Expensive Pain" R. Williams Cruz Julius Herold Michael Holmes Vianey Mfuamba 3:34 6. "Ride for You" (featuring Kehlani ) 3:02 7. "Me (FMW)" (featuring ASAP Ferg ) 3:00 8. "Hot" (featuring Moneybagg Yo ) 2:31 9. "Love Train" R. Williams Cruz Simon Gebrelul Aaron Tesfagiorgis 3:55 10. "Northside Southside" (featuring Giggs ) 3:03 11. "We Slide" (featuring Young Thug ) 3:31 12. "Tweaking" (featuring Vory ) 3:17 13. "Love Money" R. Williams Cruz Earle Grant Hewlett David Weiner 3:02 14. "Blue Notes 2 " (featuring Lil Uzi Vert ) 3:50 15. "Angels (RIP Lil Snupe)" 3:01 16. "Cold Hearted III" 2:48 17. "Halo" (featuring Brent Faiyaz ) 3:32 Total length: 53:23
Bonus track Title Writer(s) 18. "Flamerz Flow" 1:41 Total length: 55:04
Sample credits
"Intro (Hate on Me)" contains samples of "Hate Me Now ", written by Nasir Jones , Sean Combs and Gavin Marchand, as performed by Nas , which itself samples Carmina Burana , composed by Carl Orff .
"Sharing Locations" contains uncredited samples of the Bulgarian folk song "Чичовите конье".
"Me (FWM)" contains samples from "Bia' Bia'", written by Jonathan Smith , Todd Shaw , Stephanie Martin and Sammie Norris, as performed by Lil Jon .
"Blue Notes 2" is a sequel to "Blue Notes" from DC4 , and they both sample "Midnight Blues", performed by Snowy White .
Personnel
Meek Mill – Vocals (all tracks)
Popcaan – Vocals (1)
Sadie Kraft – Vocals (2)
Lil Baby – Vocals (4)
Lil Durk – Vocals (4)
Jena Goldsack – Vocals (5)
Kehlani – Vocals (6)
ASAP Ferg – Vocals (7)
Moneybagg Yo – Vocals (8)
Giggs – Vocals (10)
Young Thug – Vocals (11)
Vory – Vocals (12)
Lil Uzi Vert – Vocals (14)
Brent Faiyaz – Vocals (17)
Cardo – Production (1, 2, 10)
Nick Papz – Production (4, 8, 14)
Xander – Production (4, 8, 14)
Austin Powerz – Production (6, 16, 17)
Fuse – Production (3, 13)
KJ – Production (4, 8)
Boi-1da – Production (7, 12)
Yung Exclusive – Production (1)
Johnny Juliano – Production (1)
Deats – Production (2)
Yugo Getit – Production (3)
Gingr – Production (3)
JW Lucas – Production (3)
Svdominik – Production (4)
DZL – Production (5)
Sav – Production (6)
Hollywood Cole – Production (7)
Jahaan Sweet – Production (7)
Eza – Production (8)
AT – Production (9)
Gebrelul – Production (9)
Emkay – Production (10)
Tay Keith – Production (11)
Denaro Love – Production (11)
Minor2Go – Production (11)
Maneesh – Production (12)
Vinylz – Production (12)
Amore – Production (13)
Dato – Production (13)
Dougie on the Beat – Production (15)
Bkorn – Production (16)
Brent Faiyaz – Production (17)
Sevn Thomas – Production (17)
Paperboy Fabe – Production (17)
L.3.G.I.O.N. – Production (17)
30 Roc – Production (18)
Datboi Squeeze – Production (18)
Vianey OJ – Co-production (5)
Darko – Co-production (5)
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
^ Blistein, Jon (September 15, 2021). "Meek Mill Announces New Album 'Expensive Pain' With Vice-Filled Album Art" . Rolling Stone . Retrieved September 15, 2021 .
^ a b c d Keith Caulfield (October 10, 2021). "Taylor Swift's 'Fearless (Taylor's Version)' Returns to No. 1 on Billboard 200" . Billboard . Retrieved October 11, 2021 .
^ Ruiz, Matthew Ismael (September 15, 2021). "Meek Mill Announces New Album Expensive Pain" . Pitchfork . Retrieved September 15, 2021 .
^ Ruiz, Matthew Ismael (September 30, 2021). "Meek Mill shares handwritten 'Expensive Pain' tracklist" . Revolt . Retrieved September 30, 2021 .
^ Blanchet, Brenton (September 28, 2021). "Meek Mill's 'Expensive Pain' Album Art Takes Over Landmarks, Major Cities Across U.S." Complex Networks . Retrieved August 31, 2022 .
^ Su, Sammy (June 2, 2021). "Meek Mill Drops New "Flamerz Flow" Track and Music Video" . Hypebeast . Retrieved September 15, 2021 .
^ Richards, Will (August 27, 2021). "Meek Mill, Lil Baby, and Lil Durk team up on new song 'Sharing Locations' " . NME . Retrieved September 15, 2021 .
^ Gallagher, Alex (August 27, 2021). "Meek Mill recruits Lil Uzi Vert for new single 'Blue Notes 2' " . NME . Retrieved September 15, 2021 .
^ Zemler, Emily (September 21, 2021). "Watch Meek Mill, Lil Uzi Vert Perform 'Blue Notes 2' on 'Fallon' " . Rolling Stone . Retrieved September 21, 2021 .
^ a b "Expensive Pain by Meek Mill Metacritic Review" . Metacritic . Retrieved October 4, 2021 .
^ Kellman, Andy. "Meek Mill - Expensive Pain" . AllMusic . Retrieved October 1, 2021 .
^ Murray, Robin (October 1, 2021). "Meek Mill - Expensive Pain A mixed return laden with superstar turns..." Clash . Retrieved October 3, 2021 .
^ Lavin, Will (October 4, 2021). "Meek Mill – 'Expensive Pain' review: a rushed and haphazard fifth album" . NME . Retrieved October 4, 2021 .
^ Green, Dylan (October 6, 2021). "Meek Mill – 'Expensive Pain' Pitchfork review" . Pitchfork . Retrieved October 8, 2021 .
^ Reeves, Mosi (October 4, 2021). "Meek Mill is Both Dazzling and Disappointing on 'Expensive Pain' " . Rolling Stone . Retrieved October 4, 2021 .
^ Amorosi, A.D. (October 1, 2021). "Meek Mill Finds a Sweet Spot Between the Serious and Superficial With 'Expensive Pain': Album Review" . Variety . Retrieved October 4, 2021 .
^ Keith Caulfield (October 17, 2021). "Drake's 'Certified Lover Boy' Bounces Back to No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart" . Billboard . Retrieved October 17, 2021 .
^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 11 October 2021". The ARIA Report . No. 1649. Australian Recording Industry Association . October 11, 2021. p. 6.
^ "Ultratop.be – Meek Mill – Expensive Pain" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
^ "Ultratop.be – Meek Mill – Expensive Pain" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
^ "Meek Mill Chart History (Canadian Albums)" . Billboard . Retrieved October 12, 2021.
^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Meek Mill – Expensive Pain" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
^ "Top Albums (Week 40, 2021)" . Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved October 11, 2021 .
^ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart" . Recorded Music NZ . October 11, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021 .
^ "Album 2021 uke 40" . VG-lista . Retrieved October 9, 2021 .
^ "Swisscharts.com – Meek Mill – Expensive Pain" . Hung Medien. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100" . Official Charts Company . Retrieved October 9, 2021.
^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40" . Official Charts Company . Retrieved October 8, 2021.
^ "Meek Mill Chart History (Billboard 200)" . Billboard . Retrieved October 12, 2021.
^ "Meek Mill Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)" . Billboard . Retrieved October 12, 2021.
^ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2021" . Billboard . Retrieved December 3, 2021 .
^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2021" . Billboard . Retrieved December 3, 2021 .
Studio albums Compilation albums Extended plays Mixtapes Singles Featured singles Other songs Related articles