Meek Mill has been home from prison for two weeks now, and he's starting to open up about the complicated legal case and his reaction to the #FreeMeek campaign. Following his Dateline interview this weekend, Meek sat down for an in-depth conversation with Angie Martinez on her Power 105.1 show Tuesday.
When Martinez brought up all the support his fans showed with the #FreeMeek movement, he responded, "I was surprised from that. At first I couldn't see the news. I couldn't call home. You're locked up 24 hours a day. It takes a few weeks to get processed through. Then, when I finally got to my jail, I was looking at the TV and seeing the platforms that my case was coming on like CNN, Good Morning America, everything that was HLN. I'm just like, 'This must be a serious situation. This must be a real topic right now.'"
After thanking Jay Z, 76ers owner Michael Rubin, and Roc Nation for their support, Meek explained that he wasn't really surprised to hear about Drake shouting "Free Meek Mill" at a concert in Australia because "we ain't shoot each other or nothing like that." But he did say, "The real thing that really surprised me was when you've got white billionaires and people that don't come from the walk of life I come from really investing their time into what I've got going on."
Addressing his supporters directly, he said, "I want to say thank you, first and foremost. You know, I've got a 6-year-old son. People stood up for me and helped me get back to my family. That's important to me."
Speaking on the two to four-year sentence he was originally handed by his judge in November 2017, Meek said, "I felt like that sentence was to destroy, it wasn't to rehabilitate. Because they say probation, when they send you to jail, they're trying to rehabilitate you. Nah, they're trying to kill my career at that point. Two years, you've got to double lap the calendar. That would have been a hard get back for me."
At the 6:45 mark, Martinez asked Meek why he thought his judge Genece Brinkley treated him like she did, and he responded, "Self hate." Then he segued the conversation to his current feelings about Kanye West.
"Kanye, too," Meek added. "He's trying to get a positive message out. I see what he's trying to. I don't understand it, but I can see what he's trying to do. Like when he speaks about, 'Why are 50 people killing each other?' Black people get killed. A little girl gets shot in the head in the neighborhood, and everybody turn their head to it. But if a cop shoots somebody, everybody marches. I think it should be the same energy we're giving to the cop."
Then he clarified that he didn't support all of Kanye's positions. "I saw a little clip where he was saying something that was extra from what they were showing on TV," he said. "And he was speaking on some things that were true. When he's talking about slavery and people had a choice, though, I disagree 10,000 percent. I don't know what he's talking about. But I know that he's trying to deliver a message for a better cause. What he's trying to do."
"He's not informed enough to speak on some of the things he's speaking on," Meek explained.
Meek finished his thoughts on Kanye by saying he thought some of the controversies were part of a marketing plan, and finished, "That's his battle that he's going through that he's trying to win. I wish him the best. I'm not taking nothing from him. That's somebody that inspired me. I've got my own battle to fight and I'm on some justice reform. I'm trying to free the slaves."
