Meek Mill has always been more than just a voice for Philly. As his day-one fans know, he’s been an all-around vessel for pain, triumph, and perseverance. While his catalog is stacked with high-energy anthems built for arenas (or clubs), some of his most powerful moments arrive when he strips away the bravado and leans into raw honesty. These are the songs where the beat feels like therapy and every bar carries the weight of his journey: The poverty, the courtroom battles, the friends he’s lost, and the demons he still fights.

Meek’s emotionally charged tracks reveal the human behind the hustler, whether he’s unpacking childhood trauma on one, grieving an artist and friend gone too soon, or demanding justice in the country he calls home. What ties them all together is a sense of resilience. Even in moments of darkness, Meek raps like someone determined to make it out and bring his people with him.

This list runs through some of Meek’s heaviest, most vulnerable records — the ones that hit you in the chest long after the bass fades.

1. Shine

Notable bars: “I did shed so many tears at that corner store, man I spent so many years at that corner store, I see my n**gas disappear at that corner store, when they was sleepin’, we was there at that corner store...”

2. Heavy Heart

Notable bars: “Tears falling like the water when the levies drop, Boyz n the Hood, these n**gas Tre, they screaming, ‘Let me out,’ no they ain't riding, it was drama, I'm like yeah we out, trying to please these n**gas, s**t gone prolly wear me out...”

3. Oodles O’ Noodles Babies

Notable bars: “I ain’t have nobody to give me no hope, I hope my momma ain’t doin’ no coke, I used to wish that my daddy was livin’, I had a dream that I seen him as [a] ghost, I used to act up when I went to school, thought it was cool, but I really was hurt, wanted my family to come to my games, my mama couldn't make it ‘cause she was at work...”

4. Traumatized

Notable bars: “When I find the n**ga that killed my daddy, know I’ma ride, hope you hear me, I’ma kill you n**ga, to let you know that I don’t feel you n**ga, yeah, you ripped my family apart and made my momma cry, so when I see you n**ga it's gon’ be a homicide, cuz I was only a toddler, you left me traumatized...”

5. Save Me

Notable bars: “I’m so tired of makin’ moves and gotta keep the tool, gotta hide it from my son, I pick him up from school, with them papers with it, some would tell me I’m a fool, but all these hatin’ n**gas wanna see me on the news...”

6. 5AM IN PHILLY

Notable bars: “Chopper by the bed, glizzy by the door, how you think I’m supposed to live when only thing I see is war? Yesterday, was on the ‘gram, I seen a baby on the floor, they said they hit him with a bomb, and that killed him with his mom...”

7. Love Don’t Live Here

Notable bars: “Them youngins, they tryna murder, and them n**gas ain’t tryna fight ‘cause mama was never there, father they never met, so love don’t live there, so they shooting, or better yet, they scheming instead of dreaming, murking instead of working, they locking them in them prisons, but really them youngins is hurting...”

8. Cold Hearted III

Notable bars: “I remember all them nights in my cell, I had a mill' to my name, bills a hundred grand a month, you ain’t hear me complain, I’m a G, I take my scars and I wear ‘em in pain, you a flea, I cut you off if you chase the fame...”

9. 1942 Flows

Notable bars: “Back when I was broke, they was cool with it, now every move I make, I’m in the news with it, even if I ain’t do it they be like, ‘You did it!’ My teacher always used to tell me, ‘You gon’ lose, n**ga!’ That’s why I never went to school, n**ga, and why I’m rappin’ like I got somethin’ to prove, n**ga...”

10. WHO DECIDES WAR

Notable bars: “I be like, ‘Who decides war?’ This is where n**gas get murdered just from walkin’ to the store, you ever really lose a homie? You gotta walk into the morgue, and still be strong with his mother while shе fallin’ on the floor...”

11. Angels (RIP Lil Snupe)

Notable bars: “When Snupe died, I was high, s**t, I ain’t get to feel it, and I can't lie, [it’s] been on my mind that I ain’t hit his killer...”

12. Stay Woke feat. Miguel

Notable bars: “We scream, ‘Black Lives Matter,’ but we still toting ladders, watching our own brothers trying to get at us, dreams get shattered when a scene full of crackers, and they charge you with some s**t you ain’t do, you like, ‘what happened?’”

13. Dreamchasers feat. Beanie Sigel

Notable bars: “I see youngin on the corner with a quarter of that white, he just tryna chase his dream, plus his daughter needs some wipes, and some Pampers so he don’t give a f**k about the slammer, he just tryna stay alive, clutching on his hammer, world full of problems, ain’t nobody gotta answer...”