Meek Mill dropped his fifth full-length studio album, Expensive Pain, on Friday (Oct. 1), and it includes cameos from Lil Baby, Kehlani, Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug and more. He’ll celebrate its release on Oct. 23 at a playback concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden, “Expensive Pain: Meek Mill & Friends,” where he will perform the whole project with a number of as-yet-unannounced special guests; tickets for the show can be purchased on Friday beginning at noon here.
According to a release announcing the 18-song album — the follow-up to Meek’s Grammy-nominated 2018 collection Championships — it touches on a range of topics that are personally important to the rapper, including mental health and criminal justice reform.
In addition to rolling out the pre-release singles “Sharing Locations” featuring Lil Durk and Lil Baby, “Blue Notes 2” with Lil Uzi Vert and bonus track “Flamerz Flow,” Meek threw the album artwork up on several landmarks and on billboards across the country, including boats in Miami, buses in Philadelphia, murals and buses in Los Angeles, billboards in Times Square and buildings and trains in Atlanta.
The album’s colorful cover features an original cubist-style painting by American artist Nina Chanel Abney.
Last month, Meek received the Nelson Mandela changemaker award, which honored him for his altruism and social work with REFORM Alliance. Meek serves as the organization’s co-chair alongside his friend and Philadelphia 76ers partner, Michael Rubin.
Listen to Expensive Pain and check out some of the street promos below.
