The Rise of Meekz

Known for his punching, gruff tone and all-round assertive artistry, is Meekz – the ascending rapper from Manchester. Representing the North West of England, it has been found over the last few years that more cities across the country, aside of London, have been shaking up the U.K Rap game – Manchester being one of them. Taking what is known as the skittering and gritty Drill sound, Meekz put his own Northern spin on it, with his deep signature-accented tone and greaze-enriched street poetics which sent him flying to the forefront of the scene. Over the past two years, Meekz has been growing a strong and ever-growing, hungry fan base with his distinct style of Rap – a true testament to his exceptional talent. Growing up, Meekz has previously stated that he would listen to a lot of old school music, which in turn would explain his use of flow alongside his intricate wordsmith and punch lines. Gearing up to release his forthcoming project ‘Can’t Stop Won’t Stop’ that is set to drop this Friday (26^th June) – we are going to take a look into Meekz’s rise to success so far!

Back in 2018, Meekz uploaded two tracks onto SoundCloud titled; ‘Trxppish‘ and ‘Take Losses!!‘, that soon started to draw attention from not only the general public but various names including Aitch, Tunde and more. Unaware that these two tracks would act as the foundation to what is looking like a prosperous career ahead, the first track ‘Trxppish’ is underlined with a punching and melodic beat that saw Meekz glide with ease atop. Whereas, ‘Take Losses!!’ is slightly more up-beat and you may recognize it from RM’s EP on ‘Block Life’, touching on his trials and tribulations he weaves in an auto-tuned hook that began circulating around his home city of Manchester. Following the release of his SoundCloud tracks, Meekz was approached for a P110 ‘Scene Smasher’ at the latter end of 2018. Journeying back to the start of December, the rising rapper unveiled his ‘Scene Smasher’ and is currently sitting at just over 2 million views – this freestyle was the next level up in Meekz’s career.

Opening up his audience further, it was around this time that Meekz began to take music more seriously. In January of 2019, Meekz stepped up for a ‘Hoods Hottest’ which took off instantly. Sitting at just under 9 million views today, he soared through a bass-heavy and steady paced backdrop, attacking the beat with his punching tone and laid-back flow – his overall delivery added that extra later of greaze that caught the attention of many; “Well if I jacked you darg then you won’t get it back / Need big whips now Teddy where the hemmies at / Run up in spots like show me where the reddies at I’m going Trevor mad / Black suit, Men in Black  / I need a half a mil stack”.

Keeping up the momentum surrounding his popular releases, supporters were waiting eagerly to see what was coming next. In the spring of 2019, Meekz dropped ‘T House‘, a skippy single drenched in raw street poetics and an energetic flow. Later that summer, he made his Mixtape Madness debut with a ‘Mad About Bars’ freestyle. Introduced by Kenny Allstar; “Whenever someone asks me, what city in the U.K is doing the most? Well I can tell you; I can definitely vouch for Manchester and you see this guy, he’s one of the one’s I’m watching…Meekz!”. Currently sitting at just over 5 million views, this freestyle was split into two halves. The first half, Meekz attacked the beat with his signature old-school flow over the SSAAY production; “Think I won’t get it poppin cah I’m popular / Oi when your line ain’t poppin got a spot for yah / Hit OT and get it poppin off my Nokia / Best be happy that I’m rapping not robbing yah / You couldn’t see my vision with binoculars / I had to switch it up they try copy us”.  For the second half of the freestyle, Kenny wanted Meekz to unleash the flow and that is exactly what he did! Produced by Karlos Music and Gottinoem, the second instrumental enabled Meekz’s bars to take the forefront of the mix “I remember locked up they had me listening to RnB / Listening to no rap no cap they ain’t as hard as me”.

Towards the end of last year, Manchester’s rising star released two more singles for his eager supporters. In October, he shared the track and accompanying visuals for ‘Rap Aside‘, bringing the kids in his community together for the music video. Meekz wore a bright orange bally alongside his signature glasses and layered the bouncing and hard-hitting beat with straight talking bars. Touching on issues within the streets, he talks about turning to music and the success that has come with it so far. Journeying forward two months later, Meekz clapped back with ‘6 Figures‘. Holding a gold microphone and dressed in a loud tracksuit, this track took a deeper turn. Lyrically, Meekz spits emotive bars, discussing the loss of one his closest friends, he battles the idea of either going back to the street or making it with his music, which in hand would make his friend proud; “I’m thinking shows or the wrecks / Is it the scales or the decks? / Got me weighing up my options, trying to see whats next”.   

Kick starting 2020 with a bang, Meekz first appeared in ‘Year of the Real’ alongside M1llionz, Pa Salieu and Teeway. Each artist represented their home cities spread across the UK; Manchester, London, Birminghan and Coventry. Meekz opened up the track with 2 minutes of straight talent submerged with an undeniable level of greaze. Standing as arguably one of the hardest Drill tracks to arrive this year, the visuals correlated with the feel of the track. Posted in various dark settings, Meekz was captured in his signature bally and black vinyl puffa jacket with a boast-worthy chain sitting around his neck.

Meekz has been known to help and involve his community, as previously seen in the ‘Rap Aside’ music video. Earlier this year, he released a short video on his YouTube channel that acted as an introduction to what Meekz has been doing to give back to the local youth club in his community – ‘Studio Sessions With Meekz‘. Although more information on this is yet to come, Meekz has been running a studio session that aims to help aspiring rappers develop their crafts further. Some of the kids featured in the video mentioned how Meekz sat down with them to modify their bars in a more positive light to help the younger ones follow in their footsteps. Leaving a good impression, Meekz showed them that not all rap has to be around Drill and what come’s associated with that – a real role model!

Layered atop of piano-led instrumental, Meekz gifted us with ‘Sweeping Up’. Dressed in an orange boiler suit, the Manchester native boasted his pen game and flows throughout. Brimming with an infectious feel, ‘Sweeping Up’ is definitely a stand-out track to add to his flourishing catalogue. The music video took us on a trip around Manchester, enabling Meekz to pay homage and love to his home city. Following the hype surrounding his name, in May, he released two singles; ‘Can’t Knock The Hustle x Big Bag’ and ‘Can’t Stop Won’t Stop’. Joining forces with Mikabeats for the freestyle ‘Can’t Know The Hustle x Big Bag’, the pair put a nostalgic spin on this one. Recorded during the lockdown period, both Meekz and Mikabeats weaved a Jay-Z sample from the classic hit ‘Can’t Knock The Hustle’ within the track. Touching on the grind and his ambitions – the title is as evident as it seems! The visuals for ‘Can’t Stop Won’t Stop’ came like a movie, taking it up a level Meekz can be seen amongst his boys riding around in army tanks and dressed head to toe in fierce military gear. Proving no sign of slowing down, he offloads an array of introspective and straight talking bars “Can’t rest, can’t rest, won’t rest / Believin’ in the process / Every day’s a progress / Slow steps, I need my own clothes next”.

To believe this is only the beginning for Meekz is amazing! Having flown to the forefront of the scene and accomplished what he has, we cannot wait to hear what Meekz has in store for us next!