After encountering a few hiccups, Melii is an independent artist. After making an appearance on Meek Mill's Championships, the industry thought that she would be inking a deal with the Philadelphia star. However, she would later turn around and sign with Tory Lanez's Umbrella imprint, ushering in a bit of tension that she has repeatedly addressed in the years that followed.
Although Melii has discussed that era of her rising career, she was once again asked about her early dealings while visiting The Joe Budden Podcast. "I was never signed to Meek, I was on tour with Meek, we were working toward it," she told the hosts.
She added that she was "so grateful" that things didn't work out, but she praised Meek for giving her a chance earlier on. Then, Melii elaborated on why things didn't come to fruition business-wise.
"It was a lot of power struggle," she admitted. "And I feel like, maybe he's in a different space... I feel like we all in a different space right now, but I've always been stern. I've been a person who's like, very like, you not gon' walk over me-type sh*t." Budden said he didn't understand what the power struggle could have been.
"Meek didn't do nothin' wrong. I feel like we didn't understand each other's characters and him being a strong person, me being a strong person that stands on what they believe in," Melii replied. "He came from a system that he doesn't understand that as a female, that was already signed, I didn't need to go through his struggle."
Melii went on to say that she didn't need someone to take her back to the started from the bottom days, but to "elevate" her from where she was to where she wanted to be.
"So, a lot of times, it would be, 'Melii crazy, Melii don't listen.' But it's like, nah. Melii knows what she's talkin' about, but you not tryin' to listen because you want me to earn something that I already came from the mud from."
Watch Melii explain her side of the story below.