On Thursday (Dec. 17), Meek Mill appeared in a Philadelphia court and was found guilty of violating his probation. The judge presiding over the “Dreams and Nightmares” rapper’s case also banned him from any future performances.
As noted by Vibe, Meek failed to get a travel request form from his parole officer prior to his appearance at the 2015 American Music Awards in Los Angeles late November.
Tweets from WHYY reporter Bobby Allyn indicate that Philly native took the stand to defend himself, saying, “I don’t wanna be a criminal. I’m not a gangsta. But I’m not a perfect man…I have the potential to be greater than I am today.”
The judge later responded saying, “I bent over backwards so he can have free range to grow his career… it didn’t work out.”
Meek’s sentencing was reportedly delayed until Feb. 5. In addition to a travel restriction, the MMG-signed lyricist was banned from performing indefinitely, even within Philadelphia.
The “All Eyes On You” rapper has been a free man for just over a year. He was released in December 2014, after being sentenced three to six months in jail for violating his probation in July of that year. Initially, Meek was not allowed to travel outside of Philly until he completed community service and anger management courses. The prison sentence stemmed from a 2009 drug and gun incident.
Since his release, Meek has been romantically linked to Nicki Minaj, who appeared at his hearing. This summer, the two embarked on Minaj’s The Pinkprint tour along with supporting acts Tinashe, Dej Loaf and Rae Sremmurd. He also released his sophomore album, Dreams Worth More Than Money.
The album received positive reviews. From progression in subject matter to more fluency in the project's tracklisting, Meek's second studio effort proved his ability to dodge the sophomore slump. Back in September, he announced that he was prepping to release a Dreamchasers 4 mixtape.
