Meek Mill Compares Netflix's 'Squid Game' Series To "Hood Poverty" In Viral Tweet

Music

| LAST UPDATE 10/18/2021

By Mahlik Campbell
Meek Mill
Erik Pendzich via Shutterstock

Racking up 111 million views in its first month, the South Korean survival series 'Squid Game' has emerged as the most-watched debut ever on Netflix. Meek Mill tuned in as well, though this one opinion was interesting…

Meek Mill – coming from a cutthroat and poor area of Philadelphia – took to Twitter to compare 'Squid Game' to "hood poverty," writing, "Pay attention how fast people switch and kill each other to survive … now think about the 'hood' poverty … it's the exact same thing."

He added that "work/money" would solve the issue.

In 'Squid Game,' 456 contestants with insurmountable debts compete in six children's games – from "Red Light, Green Light" to "Tug of War" – for a chance to win $38.5 million (45.6 billion South Korean won). But the catch is that if they fail to win any game, they die.

One of the underlying messages of 'Squid Game' is that a huge wealth gap like the one present in South Korea can push people to adopt literal killer instincts. Meek believes this kind of system is present in America, too. Some fans thought he missed the mark, others stood up for him.

Meek is also sparking conversation with the cover art for 'Expensive Pain,' his latest album, which depicts several naked Black women, including one bending over. The design was also plastered across his tour bus and several public buses and trains.

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While some critics suggested the cover "hyper-sexualizes" Black women and that Meek's tour bus needs to be "canceled," Run The Jewels rapper and activist Killer Mike shot back: "It's art. ... We as a society see naked humans in art in museums. We should also be cultured enough as adults & parents to have a convo about nudity & art with our children."

To Killer Mike's point, a Black female artist based named Nina Chanel Abney (above) painted the 'Expensive Pain' cover. (Her work previously graced the iconic The New Yorker magazine.)

Thankfully for Meek, this visual drama didn't start until after 'Expensive Pain' had debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 with 93k units sold.