Earlier this week, Meek Mill became the first rapper to receive the Nelson Mandela Changemaker Award. The honor came via the invite-only entity PTTOW! (Plan To Take On The World!), who recognized the Philly native for his work through REFORM Alliance. After he received the award, Meek took to Instagram to celebrate. “Blessings… I got the Nelson Mandela Humanitarian Award,” he wrote. “Thank you … Rip to the great Nelson Mandela, ‘I ain’t grow up playing ball I had a Smith & [Wesson] because where I’m from it’s very hard to turn 27’ #survivors.” Shortly after he shared the post, the rapper returned with some new work.
Meek shared “Mandela Freestyle,” which finds him detailing his struggles with the legal system and his dedication to reform. “Motivate the people where I come from, my requirement / Say it loud, ‘I won’t be a product of my environment,’” he raps, later adding, “Took them bars they locked me in and made it a rap / I took them cells that they gave us and I made it a plaque.”
The freestyle comes a week after Meek dropped a video for “War Stories,” in which he details his harsh past while showing him eating dinner with his team and hanging out with other rappers, including Bobby Shmurda, Jim Jones, Quavo, Lil Uzi Vert, and more.
You can watch the video for Meek’s “Mandela Freestyle” above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists.