Meek Mill turned his X timeline into a living archive this week, using a string of posts to revisit moments from North Philadelphia that shaped him long before success entered the picture. Each memory he shared carried the weight of someone who has seen the complexities of his neighborhood up close.
One of the first stories he offered reached back to when he was thirteen. He described heading out to buy clothes, only to lose everything he had saved. “I will never forget the 3 card molly oldhead caught me for my whole bankroll like $400 going shopping for clothes,” Meek wrote. He explained how the man operated near the Market Street bus stop, choosing that spot to catch kids as they arrived. According to Meek, it wasn’t a one-man setup—“He had five actors with him,” he said, noting how coordinated the scam was. The man was familiar to residents because he stayed in their hallway and was allowed there for doing small chores.
Meek remembered him by name: “His name was Nelson.” He went on to say that Nelson was eventually killed, and that police captured the suspected shooter quickly enough for neighbors to release long-held frustration. “Rip to Nelson N 32nd St and Cecil B Moore Ave,” he added.
Meek then shifted further into the neighborhood’s past, mentioning 18th and Berks and pointing out that boxer Tevin Farmer also came from that block. But the mood darkened again as he recalled a horrific tragedy near 18th and Norris. “On 18th and Norris a whole family got killed by a fire bomb like 3am women kids and men like 6 to 8 people,” he wrote. He connected that event to his own experience years later, sharing, “Then my house caught on fire years after. I couldnt stop smelling fire for 5 years.”
He ended the thread by inviting local students to learn the area’s real history directly: “Jump in the car with me. Especially if you a Temple University student and live near 18th and Berks. A lil history lol.”