Meek Mill has come a long way from the streets of Philly where he first made his name battle rapping challengers and hustling to make ends meet. From being locked up at 19 years old for possibly trumped-up charges to being one of the hottest rappers in the game, Meek has overcome a number of obstacles turning every adversity into motivation to succeed. The Philly rapper reflected on some of those early obstacles on Twitter via an old video of one of his early freestyles posted by a fan account.
“These are bars from when I was broke and a lot of my so called friends left me for dead when my bail was $9500,” he wrote. “Tt gave me motivation to make it and sh*t on em.” The freestyle video itself comes from Meek’s DVD days shot in low resolution in what looks like a retail establishment. Young Meek spits a passionate verse directly into the camera, directly referencing exactly the situation the years-older Meek observed: “When I was cuffed up in them chains, n—-s ain’t give me a holla / Bail $9500, n—-s ain’t give me a dollar.”
For what it’s worth, Meek’s new friends have been a lot more helpful with his legal issues. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, and 76ers part-owner Michael Rubin all went to bat for Meek in 2018 when he was inside for probation violation, eventually helping to secure his release and help him start the REFORM Alliance to fight against similar injustices through policy change and inmate outreach.
