Meek Mill Image via Twitter @MeekMill
Meek Mill honoured with Nelson Mandela Humanitarian Award [watch]
Rapper Meek Mill makes history as the first musician to receive the Nelson Mandela Humanitarian Award. He celebrated with a rap freestyle!
Meek Mill Image via Twitter @MeekMill
Meek Mill is one of those names in hip-hop that one just can’t ignore. Along with collaborating with some of the biggest artists in hip-hop today, the American rapper has done exceptional work in criminal justice reform.
ALSO READ: Beyoncé gets real about social media, self-worth and new music!
MEEK MILL AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
Robert Rihmeek Williams aka Meek Mill chairs the REFORM alliance with social justice activist Micheal Rubin. REFORM’s founding partners include Grammy-award winning rapper Jay-Z, and businessmen Robert Kraft and Michael Novogratz.
REFORM focuses on transforming probation and parole in the United States, by aiming to change certain laws. REFORM was officially founded on 23 January 2019.
REFORM’s journey began with the imprisonment of Meek Mill.
Meek Mill has had run-ins with the law for several reasons. According to Vulture, the rapper was convicted of gun possession and drug dealing in 2008. He was sentenced to 11 to 23 months in jail.
In 2017, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting two people in the St. Louis airport in Missouri. In the same year, he was arrested for popping a wheelie on a dirt bike without a helmet in Manhattan, New York.
MEEK MILL AWARDED NELSON MANDELA HUMANITARIAN AWARD
The Going Bad rapper celebrated winning the award on his Instagram page. The prestigious award was awarded to him on 12 August, at the PPTOW (Plan to take on the world) awards.
“Bessings.. I got ‘the Nelson Mandela humanitarian award’. Thank you Rip to the great Nelson Mandela”, the rapper wrote.
Meek Mill is the first rapper to ever receive this prestigious award.
Other PPTOW members who attended the awards ceremony include Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and singer and entrepreneur Patti Labelle.
ALSO READ: Inside Steve Harvey and his wife Marjorie’s ‘welcome to SA’ dinner [photos]
MANDELA FREESTYLE
To celebrate his award, the 34-year-old rapper released a passionate music video, titled Mandela Freestyle, on 13 August. The music video features a few snippets of Nelson Mandela and previous news reports of himself.
“You can’t label me a rapper cause I’m different kid. The only difference is, I’m really making differences. I took my pen and pad and made some businesses,” Meek Mill raps.
The music video has been viewed over one million times on YouTube and is currently trending at No 20 for music.
