Meek Mill's harsh prison sentence, where he's looking at two to four years of jail time for a probation violation, has been all the talk in the hip-hop community to begin this week. Several reports have stated that the judge is acting on her own personal agenda, rather than handing out a fair punishment for the severity of the crime, and many of music's hitmakers and other celebrities as well have voiced their displeasure with the ruling. One of the most vocal members of hip-hop's universe has been Jay-Z, who previously called the decision "unjust" and "heavy-handed." Last night, during a show in Dallas, Texas, Hov spoke out on the issue again, telling fans exactly how he felt about the Meek Mill decision.
In the screengrab of a video clip from the show, Jay-Z took a moment during his set to chat about Meek and once again air out his true feelings on the issue. Spoiler alert: he still thinks the judge is in the wrong. “I’ve got to say something about a young man by the name of Meek Mill,” he began. “He caught a charge when he was, like, 19. He’s 30 now, he’s been on probation for 11 years. F**king 11 years. Judge gave him two to four years because he got arrested for being on a bike and popping a f**king wheelie.” Judging by the crowd's response to his words, Jay's fans were in total agreement with this assessment of the Meek Mill sentencing. You can watch the entire video clip below.
There have been a few interesting twists in this story since Monday (November 6th), none the least of which is the theory that the judge tried to get Meek Mill to cut ties with Roc Nation, using his sentencing as leverage. According to Meek's attorney Joe Tacopina, the judge was "crossing the line of professionalism and traditional conduct" when she apparently asked the rapper to leave Roc Nation for a local Philadelphia manager that Tacopina claims the judge knew personally. "She's doing something that a judge would never be doing, having a personal interest," Tacopnia added. "You could pull any judge in America and ask them how many times they've showed up at a community service for a probation and the answer is zero."