Meek Mill is an American hip hop recording artist. Raised in Philadelphia, he embarked on his music career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group, The Bloodhoundz. In 2008, Atlanta-based rapper T.I. signed Meek Mill to his first record deal. In February 2011, after leaving Grand Hustle Records, Mill signed with Miami-based rapper Rick Ross’s Maybach Music Group (MMG).
Mill’s debut album, Dreams and Nightmares, was released in 2012 under MMG and Warner Bros. Records. The album, preceded by the single “Young & Gettin’ It”, debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200.
1. Meek Mill was born Robert Rihmeek Williams on May 6, 1987 in South Philadelphia.
2. He is the son of Kathy Williams.
3. He has an older sister, Nasheema Williams.
4. Kathy grew up in poverty and her mother died when she was young.
5. Meek’s father was killed when Meek was five years old, apparently during an attempted robbery.
6. His uncle, Robert, described Meek Mill’s father as a “black sheep of the family”.
7. After her husband’s death, Kathy moved with Meek and his sister to North Philadelphia, where they lived in a three-bedroom apartment on Berks Street.
8. Their financial condition was poor and she started cutting hair and doing other jobs to support the family. She also sometimes stole products from supermarkets and sold them.
9. At home, Meek Mill was shy and rarely spoke. As a kid, he became acquainted with another of his dad’s brothers, Grandmaster Nell, who was a pioneering disc jockey (DJ) in the late-1980s Philadelphia hip-hop scene and influenced Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff.
10. Meek’s interest in hip-hop grew. He was also influenced by the independent hip-hop artists Chic Raw and Vodka, whom he used to emulate by watching their DVDs.
11. During his early teenage years, Meek Mill often took part in rap battles, under the pseudonym Meek Millz.
12. He’d often stay up well past midnight filling notebooks with phrases and verses that he’d later draw on.
13. Later he and three friends formed the rap group, The Bloodhoundz. They bought blank CDs and jewel cases at Kinko’s, encouraging friends to burn them with the group’s songs and distribute them.
14. When he was 18, while walking to a corner store armed, Meek Mill was arrested for illegally possessing a firearm and was beaten up by the police. Because of the beating, his lips and both eyes became swollen and one of his braids was ripped out. He was charged with assaulting the police after two black cops gave a statement against him in the case, saying he chased them down with a gun and tried to kill them. He was then put on probation.
15. The Bloodhoundz lasted long enough to release four mixtapes.
16. In 2008, Mill released his fourth solo mixtape, Flamers 2: Hottest in tha City, which spawned the promotional singles “I’m So Fly,” “Prolli,” and “Hottest in the City.”
17. Flamers 2 caught the attention of Charlie Mack, founder and President of 215 Aphillyated Records.
18. Mack was so impressed with Mill that he immediately signed him to his management company. During that same year, Meek Mill also met the founder and owner of Grand Hustle Records, Atlanta-based rapper and record executive T.I.
19. T.I. was also impressed by Mill and offered him an opportunity to travel, to meet with him and Warner Bros. Records. Within a week both record companies offered him a deal.
20. Although he was offered other record deals, Mill felt collaborating with T.I. was “an opportunity of a lifetime” and thus chose his label.
21. However, a setback occurred: Mill was arrested, charged with gun and drug possession, and ordered to serve seven months in prison. He was released in early 2009.
22. Under Grand Hustle, Mill formed a work relationship with the label’s resident disc jockey, DJ Drama. Mill and Drama teamed up to release the third edition of Mill’s Flamers series.
23. The mixtape, titled Flamers 3: The Wait Is Over, was released on March 12, 2010 and is helmed as a “Gangsta Grillz mixtape”.
24. The mixtape features his promotional single “Rosé Red”, which was later remixed with additional verses from fellow American rappers T.I., Rick Ross and Vado.
25. Rick Ross contributed his verse after he was visiting Philadelphia and asked his Twitter followers who he should collaborate with; Meek Mill was the overwhelming response.
26. The remix was included on Mill’s following mixtape, Mr. Philadelphia. Due to Mill’s and Grand Hustle label-boss T.I.’s respective legal troubles, Mill was never able to release an official album under Grand Hustle and they parted ways in 2010.
27. In February 2011, Rick Ross announced the signing of Mill along with fellow American rapper Wale to his Maybach Music Group (MMG) label.
28. In March 2011, Mill was included in XXL’s “Freshman Class of 2011”.[13] Later that year, he released his debut single, “Tupac Back”, featuring Rick Ross, from his label’s compilation album Self Made Vol. 1 (2011).
29. That same year he released his second single, “Ima Boss”, also take from the compilation and featuring Ross.
30. The song was later remixed, featuring T.I., Birdman, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz and Rick Ross. The remix charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #51, becoming Mill’s most successful single at that time.
31. In August 2011, Mill released Dreamchasers, a well received mixtape featuring his urban hit “House Party” and guest appearances from Rick Ross, Yo Gotti and Beanie Siegel among others.
32. In February 2012, MTV listed Meek Mill as the “#7 hottest MC” in their annual “Hottest MCs in the Game” list.[14] On May 7, 2012 Mill released the second installment to his Dreamchasers series.
33. Within six hours of its release on mixtape website DatPiff.com, Dreamchasers 2 was downloaded 1.5 million times. On May 10, it was announced Meek Mill signed with Roc Nation management.
34. On June 19, 2012, “Amen” – originally included on Dreamchasers 2, was released as the lead single from Mill’s debut studio album. Before releasing his debut studio album Dreams & Nightmares, Mill received co-signs from both Mariah Carey and Nas, with him appearing on Carey’s 2012 single “Triumphant (Get ‘Em)” and the latter stating, “I got my eyes on him. He’s the next one to take this shit over.” The album was released on October 30, 2012.
35. Following an album release party in Philadelphia, Mill was detained by Philadelphia police after a car in which he was riding in was pulled over. No charges were filed, and Mill was released from custody. The album debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 165,000 copies. In its second week the album sold 41,000 more copies dropping 6 spots on the chart to number 8.
36. Mill released the third installment of the Dreamchasers series, Dreamchasers 3.
37. The mixtape featured guest appearances from Rick Ross, Akon, Future, Waka Flocka Flame, Wale, Trina and Jadakiss among others. The mixtape was scheduled to be released on May 6, 2013.
38. However, he had announced that it would be pushed back, eventually to be released on September 29, 2013.
39. In November 2013, Mill announced that he was half-way finished with his second studio album. On March 8, 2014, Mill announced that the album would be titled Dreams Worth More Than Money.
40. Mill’s album, Dreams Worth More Than Money, which was released on June 28, 2015, topped the Billboard 200 as of the issue dated July 18, 2015.
41. Meek Mill posted 6 videos on his Instagram previewing music for his mixtape, DC4.
42. The mixtape was planned to have featured a remix of his enemy, Drake’s song, “Back to Back”, and a remix to Drake and Future’s song, “I’m the Plug”, but unfortunately, due to DC4 being released commercially, neither of these two remixes made the final cut.
43. On January 16, 2016, Meek Mill dropped songs on his extended play, 4/4, with 4 tracks.
44. On January 30, 2016, Meek Mill released another extended play title 4/4, Pt. 2.
45. Meek Mill spent $50,000 to donate 60,000 water bottles to contribute to the Flint Water Crisis.
46. Meek Mill released DC4 on October 28, 2016.
47. On November 3, 2016, Meek Mill announced on Instagram that his next mixtape would be entitled Dreamchasers 4.5, and would be a follow-up to DC4.
48. On October 26, 2012, Meek Mill announced the launch of his own record label imprint, Dream Chasers Records with the flagship artists Louie V. Gutta, Lee Mazin and Goldie.
49. In early 2013, he also signed 17-year-old Louisiana rapper Lil Snupe moments after hearing his demo.
50. The label has since released mixtapes by Louie V. Gutta and Lil Snupe.
51. On June 20, 2013, Dream Chasers artist Lil Snupe was murdered at an apartment building in Winnfield, Louisiana by two gunshots to the chest. A warrant was issued for 36-year-old Tony Holden in connection with the shooting. Holden was on the run from police for four days before turning himself in to authorities.
52. On May 29, 2016, Mill signed producer Papamitrou to the label.
53. Mill was arrested for illegally possessing a firearm and assaulting the police when he was 18 years old. He was put on probation. Since then, he has been arrested four times for parole violation. Another violation will result in him being imprisoned.
54. In 2008, Mill was convicted of drug dealing and gun possession and was sentenced to 11 to 23 months in prison. Mill was released during the early portion of 2009 under a five-year parole agreement.
55. In December 2012, Mill was found to have violated his probation and the judge revoked Mill’s travel permit.
56. In May 2013, Mill was again found to have violated his probation and was ordered to take etiquette classes. The violation was a failure to report travel plans as required and social media postings that resulted in death threats to the judge, Assistant District Attorney (ADA) and probation officer assigned his case.
57. On July 11, 2014, Mill had his probation revoked and he was sentenced to three to six months in jail.[51] He was released from prison on December 2, 2014.
58. He was found guilty for a parole violation again on December 17, 2015. The judge hearing his case refused to give him another chance and ordered him not to work or perform before his sentencing on February 5, 2016. He was sentenced to 90 days of house arrest on February 5. The sentence became effective from March 1 during which he was not allowed to work and was required to do daily community service with groups serving adults.
59. He was also sentenced to six more years of probation. On June 2, 2016, Meek Mill was sentenced to eight additional days of house arrest. His house arrest came to an end in mid-June 2016.
60. Following his release from his three-to-six month prison sentence for probation violation on December 2, 2014, Mill began dating rapper and singer Nicki Minaj in early 2015. On January 2, 2017, it was reported that Meek Mill and Nicki Minaj had ended their two-year relationship.
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