During Meek Mill‘s recent stop at Houston’s Revention Music Center for the final stop of his Motivation Tour, the Philadelphia rapper was awarded a proclamation from the city claiming February 24 as Meek Mill Day in Houston. Meek posted a photo of himself and Houston Sylvester Turner holding up the proclamation along with photos from the show, writing, “Life is a roller coaster” in response. He is only a little less than 10 months removed from his release from prison by order of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court after being arrested in 2017 for violating his probation. He was originally sentenced to 2-4 years, but was eventually released through the intervention of activists who questioned his original arrest when he was just 19 years old.
Meek Mill Day isn’t the first rapper-centric public celebration in the city of Houston. In November of last year, local rapper Travis Scott was honored with his own Astroworld Day in honor of both his fan-favorite album Astroword (named after a defunct local amusement park) and his work with Houston’s youth. Houston has since announced plans to open a new amusement park. Drake Day was established in June of 2014, while in 2008, hometown hero Trae The Truth was honored with Trae Day, July 22.
Meek’s day was granted at least in part for similar reasons to Travis’. Although he isn’t from Houston himself, his work in criminal justice reform is likely to eventually have a huge impact in Houston and all over the US. In January of this year, he and Jay-Z announced the formation of their REFORM Alliance alongside New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin, who were all instrumental in helping to get Meek released.
