Meek Mill & Friends
Xfinity Mobile Arena
3601 S. Broad St.
Philadelphia
Dec 5, 2025
Philly’s hometown hero Meek Mill returned home on Friday to throw the biggest house party South Philly has ever seen. To make the event extra special, the rapper brought along over 20 of his friends – many of whom are also from Philly – to put together a sold out performance to remember. For two hours, the audience was treated to classic Meek hits, a flurry of surprise guests, and emotional moments from Meek and his pals.
Leading up to the event, the concert promotions were everywhere I looked. Whether I was taking SEPTA or going to see a movie, I was reminded that come early December, Meek Mill would be back in town for a one-night-only blowout. The event had a livestream coupled with it, where folks like North Philly’s own Tierra Whack would be showing behind the scenes content at the show and taking questions from fans.
And in classic Meek fashion, I was also hearing about the event from local anti-violence organizations such as NoMo Foundation on Instagram. Prior to the concert, the group posted on their account that Meek had gifted tickets to the concert to the kids and members participating in NoMo Foundation’s work. The rapper takes anti-violence and criminal justice reform personally, and is always working to give positive memories to the kids from his city.
On the big night, folks filed into the venue excited to see who Meek might bring out at the concert. One attendee told me she was hoping to see Fridayy, while her friend told me she didn’t even care who he brought out, she was just ready to have a fun night out. Going into it, I expected a handful of surprise performances. But once his friends started joining him, the audience didn’t get a chance to even think of who might be next.
Meek stepped on stage around 9:45 p.m. – wearing snakeskin pants and a jacket combo paired with a red Phillies cap – and immediately brought the energy the crowd was looking for. Attendees stood on their chairs, passed what they were smoking to their friends, and rapped along with Meek as he performed windows down, driving under classics like “House Party” and “Ima Boss."
The “& Friends” portion of the set was thoughtfully planned out in order to ensure that there was something for everybody there. He included newer voices in rap like Rob49 and Skrilla, who have been going viral for their songs “WTHelly” and “Doot Doot (6 7),” respectively; artists that have been in the game for a minute, such as G Herbo, Young Thug, and Roddy Ricch; and rappers who have been part of my life since I was young, like State Property and Jim Jones and Juelz Santana of Dipset.
This concert was also a way for Meek to speak on things that are important to him. He brought out Atlanta rapper YFN Lucci to perform his first song on stage since being incarcerated for 10 years and released in January of this year. Meek also took time during the set to memorialize Philly rapper PnB Rock, who was killed in a robbery in 2022. And while he performed his Grammy-nominated song “Proud Of Me” with Fridayy, he gave Gillie Da Kid – who sadly lost his son Devin Spady, a.k.a. YNG Cheese, to gun violence in Philly two years ago – a cathartic moment to yell along to the song with him. In the song, Meek raps about going through life without his father, who was killed during a robbery when Meek was 4 years old.
These moments in an otherwise celebratory event gave the concert a level of depth that reminded me how badly my city needs times like these. Though shooting numbers in Philly have gone down since 2021 (when we were at a record high of 562 reported homicides – now we’re at 206) the trauma remains. Meek knew that, and the audience did too. Chances are, a significant number of people in that arena have, in some way, been touched by gun violence, whether they’re a survivor or co-survivor. Having lived in one of the areas with the highest numbers of gun violence and after spending time covering gun violence in Philly, it felt therapeutic to be at this concert.
Before closing the show, Meek told the audience to never forget that Philly made him. “I’ll never give up on my community,” he said. “I’ll always keep repping rappers coming from Philly.” Then, he was joined by all of his friends and family to perform “Dreams and Nightmares” while the room erupted and confetti and balloons dropped for what may as well be Philadelphia’s National Anthem. I may be biased, but I know that other cities don’t do it like we do. And I left the arena feeling, as per usual, deeply proud to be from the greatest city in the world.
