Meek Mill has apologized for shooting a music video at Ghana’s presidential palace after a backlash from the country’s education minister.
Last Sunday (January 8), the rapper posted on Instagram a fragment of the clip for a new, as yet unnamed song. Among other places in Ghanaian, the video shows Mill wandering through the conference rooms and corridors of the Jubilee House, which serves as the official home and office of the President of Ghanaian, Nana Akufo-Addo.
https://twitter.com/thewavecheckk/status/1612201640764784640
The clip, which has since been removed from Mill’s Instagram, sparked a backlash shortly after it was posted, with Ghana’s education minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa leading the criticism, calling the video a “disgusting desecration of the Jubilee House.”
Ablakwa, who expressed his disappointment in a tweet posted yesterday (January 9), said that “all those responsible for [the video] … should be fired immediately.” He continued: “How do these explicit texts from the presidential project “Ghana” positively affect us? Isn’t the residence of the Government of Ghana no longer a strict regime facility?”.
All those responsible for this despicable desecration of the Jubilee House by Meek Mill must be fired immediately.
How do those explicit lyrics from the president’s lectern project Ghana positively?
Is Ghana’s seat of government no longer a high security installation? pic.twitter.com/Wwo2rbGIjl
— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) January 9, 2023
In response to the negative reaction, which was also expressed by Ghanaian citizens and news agencies, Mill today (January 10) tweeted that he never “wanted to disrespect the people of Ghana.” The rapper said that his intentions when shooting the video at the presidential residence were to “[show] art” and “establish a connection between black people in America and Africa.”
He continued: “For the people of Ghana, no video that I drop ever means disrespect to the people of Ghana… The fastest way to establish a connection is through music [so in the original], and I wanted to do it with a demonstration of art… I’m over 30 from America [so in the original] and didn’t know much about the way of life here.”
My apologies to the people if any disrespect! We still gonna push to make the connection between black people in America and Africa … what I’m trying to do is more than a video and you should see coming soon! My apologies to the the office also!
— MeekMill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023
To the people of Ghana no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana …. The fastest way to make connection is thru music and I wanted to do that with displaying art … im in my 30’s from America and didn’t know much about the lifestyle here
— MeekMill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023
In a subsequent tweet, Mill offered his “apologies to people if [any disrespect was shown” before openly apologizing to the Ghanaian president’s office. Later, the rapper defended Akufo-Addo, who received a negative reaction for allegedly allowing the video to be shot, writing that the office might not have known that “it was a video when we asked to shoot.”
I don’t think they knew it was video footage when we asked to shoot its a small camera and one kid … in America we didn’t know this existed and was excited to show because they don’t show Ghana on our media much! So I’ll take responsibility for my mistake! Not intentional https://t.co/obDZb9Czu5
— MeekMill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023
Meek Mill concluded the thread with a final apology and explanation, writing that “in America we didn’t know it existed and were happy to show because they don’t often show Ghana in our media! So I take responsibility for my mistake! Not intentionally.”
Mill’s recently deleted Instagram post promised that the song would be released soon, but it has not yet appeared on the pages of the rapper’s streaming service. Mill’s latest studio album, “Expensive Pain”, was released in October 2021, followed by the mixtape “Flamers 5” at the end of last year.
Around the same time, Mill was one of many musicians present at the virtual signing of the Law on the Decriminalization of Artistic Expression, which prohibits the use of rap lyrics in criminal prosecution and was enshrined in California law last October. Mill was joined at the signing of the contract by Killer Mike, E-40 and Ty Dolla $ign, among others.
