Meek Mill Is Scared of Being Too Political

Since the release of his sophomore LP Dreams Worth More Than Money, Meek Mill has dominated hip-hop headlines. From ripping freestyles during his press tour for the album; to the "All Eyes On You" video where his romance with Nicki Minaj plays out on screen; and, most famously, his Twitter rant that has resulted in a beef with Drake. Meek isn't short on things to talk about and Billboard sat down with the Philly MC before Drake's "Charged Up" dropped and the beef escalated.

For a rapper who has been open about being a victim of police brutality, Meek has shied away from taking a political stance in a time when the relationship between Black Americans and the police is under a microscope. During the sit down with Billboard, Meek explained that he scared of becoming a target if he were to speak out in his music. ""I'm scared to be political," he says. "You get too powerful and more people try to take you out. My son ain't trying to hear that his dad got put away because he was fighting for the country."

Meek was also candid about his relationship with Nicki and revealed that his decision not to release "All Eyes On You" as the lead single led to tension behind the scenes. "She wanted it to be my single, and I didn't," he says. "It turned into an ego argument." Meek then admits that Nicki outperformed her man on the track. "She killed me on that song, but I don't really care. When my girl do better than me, I still win. When I do better than her, she still wins."

Meek has caught flack from his peers, most notably Joe Budden, who have said that the rapper has gone soft ever since he started dating Minaj.  Mill defends himself by saying it's okay to show a softer side ."You can't be hard all the time, man," he says. "There's both sides to everything. What's wrong with it? Jay Z was a street rapper and he had a girlfriend."