(Photo Credit: Karl Ferguson JR.)
Meek Mill is free!
From trials and tribulations, to dreams and nightmares, the Philadelphia rapper was recently released on bail thanks to a state supreme court decision after being sentenced to two-to-four months for violating a probation over a drug and guns possession charge in 2008.
His case was seen throughout this country as the symbol for injustice, unequality, and the need for justice reform in this country.
He is now travelling the nation, being given the opportunity to speak on his experiences, and bring to the forefront some of this countries biggest problems to a broader audience. With a brand new foundation being built with the help of Philadelphia 76ers owner Michael Rubin, and possibly New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, he is looking to bring the conversation to another level.
The 31-year-old walked up to Ebro in the Morning to have one of the most honest conversations yet at Hot 97.
Here are 15 things WE learned from the interview with Ebro in the Morning.
Meek Mill was shooting a music video when he was caught doing wheelies in New York City. Was originally charged with a F1 Felony (same as stabbing someone).
“Only reason I got an F1 felony is because I was on parole. And being as though I was charged with an F1 felony, no matter if I was found guilty or not behind the charge – I got a driving course – they threw it out, gave me a driving course, I went back to Philly, and got sentenced to two-to-four years for riding a bike. I don’t think anyone in the world deserves to go to jail for riding a bike.”
“It was treated like a crime.”
You can get sentenced to full length of your probation for jail time.
“I’m 31. I been under supervision my whole life. Anytime you ever seen me almost get in trouble I probably could’ve gotten 10 years for that. Legally. At this point I probably got six years of probation right now. I had like a total of 16 years of probation. They can sentence you to whatever your probation is. You can get to the last year and they can sentence you to all that time you had on probation even if you did it in the streets clean they can give it back to you in jail time legally. That’s why the judge is like ‘I’m looking out for you giving you a two-to-four [year sentence].
“I know Jewish people that can’t even believe I got a two year sentence, and I didn’t even commit a crime.”
In 2012, he had to rent a jet just to meet his probation lawyer in Philadelphia – he was in Los Angeles.
“I been in Los Angelesm and the P.O. be like ‘get here at six in the morning or else you have a warrent out. Now I have to go get a jet. I can afford it, but I really can’t afford it to just wake up and spend your money on a plane to get to see my P.O. at six in the morning.”
Meeting With Philadelphia Governor.
“I had a press conference the other day with the Philadephia governor where he introduced a package to change eight laws because he was woke up from my situation. There’s a lot of people that are being woke up about what’s going on.”
He Did Not Talk To Nicki Minaj In Prison; Did Not Call Her
His Relationship With Philadelphia Co-Owner Michael Rubin.
“I been knowing Mike for about five or six years. I play with his daughter in his house. I might have a birthday party wit my family. My family hood. He shows up by himself.”
“He stepped up for me in a major way. In a way I never got that type of love from people. He asked me one time ‘where everyone else at? Where all the other rich people you came in the game with. And the only people I can say is Jigga [Jay Z], and Kevin Hart. Of course Rozay [Rick Ross] was always there if I ever asked or need anything. Jigga was like what’s up. I don’t know the bills was like 7 million or something like that. Meek Mill couldn’t pay them bills right there, they were different. Jigga was there 100{76ab7490b8e9be71c5480191979192cd4897c17224853a88644dbfa54813b669}.”
“My guy caught so much slack for supporting me. He’s a sports team owner. He’s a billionaire. He’s worth billions. He caught so much slack. All his friends told him ‘nah we thought he was crazy.’ [He told me] his friends think I’m crazy. He called me four times a day. ‘You going to Miami tomorrow. Try not to do anything too much until you get this off your back. Until you go back to court, and we figure things out. He really took his time out to try and build me.”
Jay Z Talking About His Case At A Show Was A Turning Point In His Case + He’s Going To Speak Out For Others
“I was like ‘what, Jay is talking about this at his show?’ That was the first turning point when I seen Jigga like ‘yo we going to jail for stuff like this for years!’”
“If this ever happens to someone in the hip hop community. You can count on how many followers I got, on how many platforms, that I’m going to speak out.”
His relationship with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft
“First time I was on an airplane with Robert Kraft, we talked about Colin Kaepernick. I’m bringing up conversations. I’m stepping past my boundaries, and talking about what I want to talk about.”
“He thought someone white did this to me. I’m like no, a black lady did this to me. That took us all the way back in history. We started talking about real history like ‘we was part of the holocaust years ago, and we stick together at this point.’ And I’m like, ‘in our situation it’s a little bit different with some of our people. We have like a self hate disease going on that is just like some real stuff,’ and we’re just talking about different kind of stuff and going deep.”
“My thing is, what’s going to happen when Meek Mill come back with a 100 million dollar foundation talking about justice reform from the jewish community. What will happen then? Is it a trick? Is it wrong? Them stepping up for me got like 108 people back in court off of this one cop already. It was a secret. That cop been dirty.”
“I’m on a plane with Robert Kraft and I’m like ‘yo, people are working for eight cents an hour’ he goes ‘not in America.’ I say are you crazy this is real life. We’re going back and forth like on the plane ride, and this is my conversation, I started this. Right now if I smoke marijuana, I get five years in prison. ‘Not in America’ [he responds], I say ‘yes I will.’ Next time he sees me, I was on a visit. He wanted to speak about it again.”
Not Getting Support For Certain People
“We don’t get support like that. I made it this far not getting support from people. I mean I grew up in a single parent home with just my mom. You get a good report card, mom pat you on the back, maybe you’ll get some Jordan’s and that’s it. You never hear you get a good job.
“Now you have people really standing behind me. Not really like that, but you have Jigga, Kevin Hart, Roc Nation, a few sports players that I salute, Kevin Hart, T.I., Rick Ross, Jay Z, Beyonce was major. I got the billionaire side going hard, harder than people people from the business we’re really in. The people I have been knowing for ten years plus. People I really did favors for. And I don’t hold anything against them for it, but don’t make that the situation [race]. Where we come from the business dudes were cuthroat. They were signing the contracts, raping these little kids. Taking their money. How dare you say make it black and white. I don’t care about no color stuff.”
Meek Mill Was Sent To Etiquette Class For Saying Piss In Court
“In my neighborhood I have an influence in a type of people. It’s a power you can’t get going to school. It’s a power you can’t get being a lawyer a doctor. We get punished differently.”
“I was in court and I was like ‘I did not have a dirty piss test’, and your honor was like ‘what? the correct word is urine! We’re sending you to etiquette class!”
He took a kid on the road who was shot in the head who he was defending during airport incident.
“Chino, he hang with me all the time. He got shot in his head in Baltimore for no reason. He don’t sell drugs. He don’t play with guns. He’s from Baltimore, and at some point in his life I was like ‘get out of there man.’ I took him on the road, his brother got shot in the face a few times in front of his mom on the same block he got shot. I told him ‘you’re definitely coming with me on the road. I looked his mom in the eyes like ‘don’t worry about it your son is with me. You don’t have to worry no more about him getting killed in the street. That stuff costs. Its like a real 18 year old kid. He has a bullet in his head. He’s lucky to be alive. I’m not going to let anything happen to this kid.”
He Would Entertain A Drake Collaboration
“It’s Possible. Anything is possible. I don’t have hate towards him, and I don’t believe he has hate towards me. When I was in that situation, I seen in the media he was like ‘free Meek Mill’ that’s when I was at my down point when I didn’t have anything going on with music.
“Before we had a little rap issue. I knew him as a person, and he supported. And that goes for anybody.”
“Drake is the biggest thing in music right now. That was another hurdle I jumped over.”
On His First Conversation With Kanye West Out Of Prison
“When I made that post I had just talked to him 10 minutes before. I just told him, ‘ you let me down with some of the words you were saying.”
“I thought it was like a marketing plan, and when I talked to him I was like ‘whoa’. I don’t know what’s going on right here.”
“I told him like ‘it looks like you forgot where you came from, what are you doing out here? There’s still people who are trapped that have no choice at all.”
“He was like ‘we need to work together.’ I was like ‘alright, but you need some help.’”
Allen Iverson Was His Idol Growing Up
“When Allen Iverson come to my neighborhood in a Rolls Royce Phantom, and I see a black man in a Rolls Royce, and I’m like ‘oh man, I can really be somebody, I don’t have to be like this drug dealer on the corner who was back and forth out of prison. It was cool seeing Allen Iverson on tv, but the moment I saw him ride through my neighborhood in a Rolls Royce it changed my life. Some people look up to Jordan because he was the greatest basketball player. To me it was Allen Iverson because he was he didn’t actualyl touch me, but he touched me. I’m going to try and be that to the next generation coming up.”
He’s Not Yet Sure When He Will Be Releasing New Music
Watch the full interview below.