Meek Mill has apologized for filming a music video inside Ghana’s presidential palace, sparking a backlash from the country’s education minister.
Last Sunday (January 8th), the rapper posted to Instagram a snippet of the music video for his yet-to-be-named new song. In this clip, among other locations in Ghana, Mill roams the conference halls and corridors of Jubilee House, which serves as the official residence and office of Ghanaian President Nana Akufo Addo.
Meek Mill shot a new somg video while in Ghana 🇬🇭 pic.twitter.com/q9ilza0B1S
— Wave Check🌊 (@thewavecheckk) January 8, 2023
The clip, which has since been deleted from Mill’s Instagram, sparked a backlash shortly after it was posted, with Ghana’s Minister of Education Sam Okuzet Abrakwa calling the video a “vile desecration of the Jubilee House.” took the lead.
Expressing his frustration in a tweet published yesterday (January 9), Ablakwa declared: [the video]… must be fired immediately. ’” he continued. Isn’t the government seat of Ghana no longer a high security facility?”.
Those responsible for this vile desecration of Jubilee House by Meek Mill must be fired immediately.
How do the overt lyrics from the president’s podium project a positive picture of Ghana?
Is Ghana’s government seat no longer a high security facility? pic.twitter.com/Wwo2rbGIjl
— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) January 9, 2023
In response to the backlash leveled by the Ghanaian public and the press, Mill explained on Twitter today (January 10) that he “didn’t mean to disrespect the people of Ghana.” The intention to shoot the video is “[display] Art” and “Connecting Blacks in America and Africa”.
He continued: [sic] I wanted to do that by exhibiting art…I’m in my 30s from the US [sic] I didn’t know much about the lifestyle here. ”
To the people of Ghana, the videos I drop are in no way meant to disrespect the people of Ghana…. The fastest way to make connections is through music. I wanted to do that by exhibiting art. I was in her 30s from the US and didn’t know much about the lifestyle here.
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023
I apologize to people if I have been slighted! We are still pushing to create connections between blacks in America and Africa…what I am trying to do is more than just a video, you should be able to see it soon! is not!
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023
In a follow-up tweet, Mill said, “I apologize to people if I was slighted.” [was taken], before explicitly apologizing to the Ghanaian Presidential Office. The rapper later defended Akufo-Addo, who faced backlash for supposedly allowing the video to be filmed, saying, “When we asked for it to be filmed, it was video footage,” the agency didn’t know. It is written that there is
I don’t think they knew it was video footage when we asked for a little camera and one child to be filmed… In America we didn’t know this existed. So I take responsibility for my mistakes! Unintentional https://t.co/obDZb9Czu5
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023
Meek Mill closed the thread with a final apology and explanation, writing: So I take responsibility for my mistakes! Not intentionally.”
Mill’s since-deleted Instagram post promised the song would be released soon, but it has yet to appear on the rapper’s streaming service page. Pain” was released in October 2021, and the mixtape “Flamers 5” was released late last year.
Around the same time, Mill was one of many musicians who attended a virtual signing of the Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act, which was incorporated into California law last October to prevent the use of rap lyrics in criminal prosecution. was a person Mill participated in signing with Killer Mike, E-40, Ty Dolla $ign, and more.