Dream Chasers.

Philly rap goes from mixtape circuits to No. 1 albums, an intro with no chorus becomes the city's anthem, and the jailing of one rapper turns a local star into a national cause.

Philly Hip Hop History2010 to 2019

Now playingDream Chasers

The city claims its own.

Philadelphia started the decade still sending most of its talent elsewhere to get signed. By the end, the city was the story.

Meek Mill, raised on Berks Street in North Philadelphia and trained in the city's battle-rap circuit, became the defining Philly voice of the decade. A second wave followed: Lil Uzi Vert from Francisville, PnB Rock from Germantown, Tierra Whack from North Philly, and Philadelphians DJ Drama and Don Cannon running their own label.

The decade's through-line was the justice system. Philadelphia settled the ACLU's stop-and-frisk lawsuit in 2011. By 2019 a Philly rapper stood at the center of national probation and parole reform.

2010–11

Meek Mill signs to Maybach Music, Philly settles its stop-and-frisk lawsuit, and Union Transfer opens.

Record

Meek Mill signs to Maybach Music.

February 2011

Rick Ross announces Meek Mill as a Maybach Music Group signee. His breakout single, "Ima Boss," is produced by Jahlil Beats of Chester, who signs to Roc Nation that October after a reported six-label bidding war. The Dreamchasers mixtape follows in August.

Listen to Ima Boss on Spotify (opens in a new tab)

The city

Stop-and-frisk settled.

Bailey v. City of Philadelphia · June 2011

The city and the ACLU of Pennsylvania settle the lawsuit over police stops, agreeing to data collection, training and a court monitor.

Rooms

Union Transfer opens.

1026 Spring Garden Street · September 21, 2011

A 1,200-capacity room opens in the 1889 Spring Garden Farmers' Market building.

2012

Dreams and Nightmares debuts at No. 2, Made in America comes to the Parkway, and the Roots Picnic goes two days.

Album

Dreams and Nightmares.

October 30, 2012

Meek Mill's debut album reaches No. 2 on the Billboard 200, and he launches Dream Chasers Records the same day. Its intro, a slow build with no chorus that explodes halfway through, becomes a Philadelphia anthem.

Listen to Dreams and Nightmares on Spotify (opens in a new tab)

Festival

Made in America.

Benjamin Franklin Parkway · September 1–2, 2012

Jay-Z's festival draws about 80,000 people to the Parkway, with Meek Mill on the bill. It returns every Labor Day weekend. That June the Roots Picnic goes two days for the first time.

On record

Meek Mill and Cassidy.

North Philadelphia · 2012–13

A North Philly rivalry fought on record, not on a stage: after a $100,000 battle challenge, Cassidy releases "Me, Myself and iPhone" and Meek answers with "Repo."

2013–14

The Roots get a six-story mural and The Tonight Show, a new generation goes viral, and Hot 107.9 becomes Boom.

Mural

Legendary.

1415 South Street · 2013

Mural Arts honors the Roots with a six-story mural by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh and Amber Art and Design, tracing the band from its CAPA beginnings. Black Thought remembered being sentenced as a teenage graffiti writer to clean walls by painting murals. In February 2014 the Roots become the house band of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

First tapes

Uzi and PnB Rock start.

2014

Lil Uzi Vert's Purple Thoughtz Vol. 1 EP comes out in January, and Uzi signs to Don Cannon's imprint. That June PnB Rock releases his first mixtape, written while he was incarcerated.

The courts

Meek Mill jailed.

July 2014

Meek Mill is sentenced to three to six months for a probation violation and released in December.

Radio

Hot 107.9 becomes Boom.

November 6, 2014

Power 99's rival switches to classic hip hop, leaving Power 99 as the city's main current hip hop station.

2015

Meek Mill reaches No. 1, Generation Now signs Lil Uzi Vert, and the Fillmore opens.

Album

Meek Mill at No. 1.

Dreams Worth More Than Money · June 29, 2015

Meek Mill's second album debuts at No. 1. A month later his public feud with Drake over ghostwriting plays out in diss records.

Listen to All Eyes on You on Spotify (opens in a new tab)

Label

Generation Now.

DJ Drama and Don Cannon

Germantown-raised DJ Drama and West Philly producer Don Cannon, who first heard Lil Uzi Vert on Power 99, launch their own Atlantic imprint around Uzi. Luv Is Rage follows in October.

Listen (explicit lyrics) to 7AM on Spotify (opens in a new tab)

Rooms

The Fillmore opens.

Fishtown · October 1, 2015

A 2,500-capacity hall opens in the old Ajax Metal Company factory, with The Foundry upstairs for local acts and DJs. DJ Jazzy Jeff starts his PLAYLIST Retreat for producers and DJs the same year.

Health

Freeway on dialysis.

September 2015

Freeway is diagnosed with kidney failure and put on emergency dialysis. He becomes an advocate for kidney health.

2016

Lil Uzi Vert and PnB Rock break nationally while Freeway returns with Free Will.

Album

Freeway's Free Will.

April 29, 2016

Freeway's first album after his diagnosis comes out on Babygrande.

#FreeMeek.

In November 2017 Judge Genece Brinkley sentenced Meek Mill to two to four years in state prison for probation violations. A week later, crowds outside the Criminal Justice Center on Filbert Street, Eagles players among them, chanted the intro to Dreams and Nightmares.

The rallies, the #FreeMeek campaign and support from the Sixers' and Eagles' ownership made Philadelphia's probation system a national story. When he came home in April 2018 he was flown by helicopter to ring the bell at a Sixers playoff game. In January 2019 he co-founded the REFORM Alliance with Jay-Z, Michael Rubin and others, pledging $50 million for probation and parole reform.

2017

"XO Tour Llif3" and Luv Is Rage 2 top the charts, and a prison sentence starts the #FreeMeek movement.

Record

"XO Tour Llif3."

Francisville

Uzi's single peaks at No. 7 and becomes one of the most-certified songs of the decade. In August Luv Is Rage 2 debuts at No. 1, Generation Now's first chart-topper.

Listen to XO Tour Llif3 on Spotify (opens in a new tab)

Mixtape

PnB Rock's GTTM.

January 2017

PnB Rock's Goin Thru the Motions debuts at No. 28, and he joins XXL's Freshman Class in June.

Video

"Mumbo Jumbo."

Tierra Whack · October 2017

Tierra Whack, who started rapping as Dizzle Dizz at 15, releases a video that will be nominated for a Grammy.

Radio

WURD on FM.

96.1 FM · 2017

WURD, the state's only Black-owned talk station, founded by Dr. Walter P. Lomax Jr. and led by Sara Lomax-Reese, adds an FM signal.

2018

The Eagles win to Dreams and Nightmares, Meek Mill comes home, and Tierra Whack releases Whack World.

The city

Super Bowl LII.

Broad Street · February 2018

The Eagles take the field to the Dreams and Nightmares intro, played all through the playoffs, and win the franchise's first Super Bowl. Fans play it up Broad Street at the February 8 parade while Meek Mill is still in prison.

Home

Meek Mill released.

April 24, 2018

After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court orders his release, he is flown from SCI Chester to ring the bell at the Sixers' Game 5 win over Miami. In November Championships debuts at No. 1.

Album

Whack World.

May 30, 2018

Fifteen songs, one minute each, each with its own short film, released on Instagram: one of the decade's most original rap releases, from North Philadelphia.

Listen to Hungry Hippo on Spotify (opens in a new tab)

2019

REFORM Alliance launches, PnB Rock goes top five, the Roots Picnic moves to the Mann, and the Troc closes.

Reform

The REFORM Alliance.

January 23, 2019

Meek Mill, Jay-Z, Michael Rubin and others launch the alliance with $50 million for probation and parole reform. In July the Superior Court overturns his 2008 conviction.

Rooms

The Troc closes; the Picnic moves.

May 31 and June 1, 2019

The Trocadero, a theater since 1870, holds its last show. The next day the Roots Picnic opens at the Mann Center in Fairmount Park. REC Philly moves into the Fashion District at 9th and Market.

Where the city practiced.

Around the artists, rooms held the scene together. REC Philly, founded by Dave Silver and Will Toms in a North Philly basement, grew into a studio, stage and business school for independent artists at 9th and Dauphin, then 9th and Market. Union Transfer and the Fillmore opened; the Troc closed. Power 99's Powerhouse concerts and the Roots Picnic put the city's own on big stages, and the Silverback Open brought breakers from fifty countries.

  • REC Philly
  • Union Transfer
  • The Fillmore & The Foundry
  • The TLA
  • The Trocadero
  • The Fire
  • Power 99 Powerhouse
  • The Roots Picnic
  • Made in America

Roll call.

More of the voices from the streaming era and the stages since. From the founder's own list of Philly names. Know someone we missed? Tell us.

MCs & rappers

Flip the record.

By 2019 Philly rappers were selling albums at the top of the charts, and the city's rap and the city's politics were tied together. Then 2020 shut everything down.

Next2020s · The New WaveOut now

Into the 2020s Back to the 2000s Add a memory Follow the build

Research and writing by Malachi Atkinson, MAVE Design

Sources & corrections

Show

Compiled from published histories, press, discographies and interviews, listed below. History told by the culture is argued about by the culture: if you remember it differently, or you have the flyer, the tape or the photo, tell us or add it to the archive.

Sources (59)

  1. Meek Mill, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  2. Lil Uzi Vert, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  3. PnB Rock, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  4. Tierra Whack, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  5. The Ringer, theringer.com ; WHYY, whyy.org ; The Fader, thefader.com
  6. Roots Picnic, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  7. 6abc, 6abc.com
  8. Inquirer, inquirer.com
  9. The Roots, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  10. Reform Alliance, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org ; The Fader, thefader.com
  11. Jahlil Beats, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org ; Okayplayer, okayplayer.com
  12. Don Cannon, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org ; Complex, complex.com
  13. DJ Drama, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  14. (merged into [12])
  15. Lil Dicky, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org ; Professional Rapper, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  16. The Daily Pennsylvanian, thedp.com ; Philadelphia Tribune, phillytrib.com ; Philadelphia Magazine, phillymag.com
  17. Blavity, blavity.com ; WXPN, xpn.org
  18. Armani White, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org ; 92.9 NIN, 929nin.com
  19. Gillie da Kid, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org ; Revolt, revolt.tv
  20. Last.fm, last.fm (weak source)
  21. CBS Philadelphia, cbsnews.com ; Inquirer, inquirer.com
  22. WPPZ-FM, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org ; Inquirer, inquirer.com
  23. Philly PR Girl, phillyprgirl.com (weak source)
  24. SoulBounce, soulbounce.com
  25. MN2S, mn2s.com ; DJcity, news.djcity.com
  26. ACLU, aclu.org ; Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, clearinghouse.net
  27. Hot 100.9, hot1009.com
  28. Mural Arts, muralarts.org ; Pollstar, news.pollstar.com ; theGrio, thegrio.com
  29. Mural Arts, muralarts.org ; Inquirer, inquirer.com
  30. WHYY, whyy.org ; NBC Sports Philadelphia, nbcsportsphiladelphia.com
  31. BET, bet.com ; Billboard, billboard.com
  32. WHYY, whyy.org ; FACT, factmag.com
  33. Free Will (Freeway album), Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org ; Rhymesayers, rhymesayers.com
  34. Philadelphia Magazine (Dave Silver), phillymag.com ; Technical.ly, technical.ly
  35. Inquirer, inquirer.com ; WXPN, xpn.org
  36. Inquirer, inquirer.com ; WXPN, xpn.org
  37. Union Transfer, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  38. WXPN, xpn.org ; Inquirer, inquirer.com
  39. Theatre of Living Arts, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  40. Visit Philadelphia, visitphilly.com
  41. Silverback Open Championships, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org ; Philadelphia Neighborhoods, philadelphianeighborhoods.com
  42. Inquirer, inquirer.com ; IWMF, iwmf.org
  43. Inquirer, inquirer.com ; Inquirer, inquirer.com
  44. WUSL, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  45. Chynna Rogers, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  46. PhillyVoice, phillyvoice.com ; theGrio, thegrio.com
  47. Inquirer, inquirer.com ; Andscape, andscape.com
  48. The Fader, thefader.com ; Complex, complex.com
  49. Back to Back (Drake song), Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org ; Wanna Know, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  50. TrapStar Turnt PopStar, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  51. Made in America Festival, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  52. Wins & Losses, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  53. WHYY (Avenue of The Roots, 2020), whyy.org
  54. Rolling Stone (Temple course, 2025), rollingstone.com
  55. Philadelphia City Council, Summer of Hip Hop resolution (2023), phlcouncil.com
  56. WHYY (drill), whyy.org
  57. Rap-Up, rap-up.com
  58. Cassidy (rapper), Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
  59. "Philly Feud: Meek Mill Comes Back At Cassidy With 'Repo'," HotNewHipHop, hotnewhiphop.com

Photo credits for this chapter are on the credits page.

Up next 2020s · The New Wave