Follow The Leaders: Meek Mill

Meek Mill is Philly's finest and he's ready to show you why.

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Follow The Leaders: Meek Mill - Meek Mill reps Philly all day every day. He's also prepared to tear the stage up at the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards to show you why he's not going anywhere anytime soon. Meek comes from a city that's always had a huge influence on music and he's making sure that the footprint that he leaves on the game is permanent. Click on to see Meek Mill's journey to the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards and how he rose from the bottom to the top. (Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

Hometown Glory - Long before he took on his moniker, Meek Mill, he was born Robert Rahmeek Williams and hailed from Philadelphia aka "The City of Brotherly Love." (Photo: Vallery Jean/FilmMagic)

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Hometown Glory - Long before he took on his moniker, Meek Mill, he was born Robert Rahmeek Williams and hailed from Philadelphia aka "The City of Brotherly Love." (Photo: Vallery Jean/FilmMagic)

Battleground - As a kid, Meek would rap here and there, but the emcee didn't start taking his art seriously until he lost a rap battle at the age of 12. From that point on, Meek made it his mission to be a beast, learning a thing or two from his uncle and Philly hip hop legend Grandmaster Nell. (Photo: John Ricard / BET)

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Battleground - As a kid, Meek would rap here and there, but the emcee didn't start taking his art seriously until he lost a rap battle at the age of 12. From that point on, Meek made it his mission to be a beast, learning a thing or two from his uncle and Philly hip hop legend Grandmaster Nell. (Photo: John Ricard / BET)

Four Emcees Are Better Than One - While honing his rap skills, Meek formed the group BloodHoundz with three other guys from his hood. Together, Meek, Mel Love, Dat N---a Leel and Young Pooh released a total of four mixtapes and were together for five years.

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Four Emcees Are Better Than One - While honing his rap skills, Meek formed the group BloodHoundz with three other guys from his hood. Together, Meek, Mel Love, Dat N---a Leel and Young Pooh released a total of four mixtapes and were together for five years.

"Real N----- Come First" - Once again, a lackluster beat lets Meek Mill get away with some lazy lines (“I get what I wanna, like I owned a genie”). Not a bad song by any means, but in comparison to the album’s dynamic, drama-filled opener, this bookend is an anticlimactic closing note. It’s a reminder of the LP’s missed opportunities—there’s no doubt Meek Mill has a better album inside of him somewhere. After all, the letdown is largely due to the excellence of Meek’s material over the past year. He still shows incredible potential, and select songs here will most likely approach ubiquity on the radio, in the club, from car speakers and elsewhere. In fact, at times, it seems Meek was too focused on achieving that goal; the pandering is unworthy of his huge talents. But still, even Rick Ross himself didn’t really reach Bawse-worthy heights until three albums in. If the hi...

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Hot Like Fire - After his stint with the BloodHoundz, Meek Mill decided to go solo. Even though going solo was a risk, Meek proved to be one of Philly's most successful underground artists with his Flamerz series of mixtapes and his hit, "In My Bag."  (Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images For BET)

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Rapper Meek Mill performs onstage at day 3 of the 2012 BET Awards rehearsals held at The Shrine Auditorium on June 30, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images For BET)

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Making That Move - After talks with T.I.'s label imprint Grand Hustle and an unfortunate brief stint in jail, Meek Mill found a home with Rick Ross' mighty Maybach Music Group in 2011. From there, Meek started going straight to the top.  (Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images For BET)

February 19, 2012: Named No. 7 "Hottest MC in the Game"  - A team of hip hop experts on an MTV music panel named Meek Mill the No. 7 "Hottest MC in the Game." (Photo: Courtesy Rachel Esterday/Hot 97)

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The Class of 2011 - Due to all of the buzz surrounding Meek Mill and his crazy word play, he was named one of XXL's 2011 Freshmen alongside Big K.R.I.T., Diggy Simmons and Kendrick Lamar. (Photo: Courtesy Rachel Esterday/Hot 97)

May 7, 2012: Released Dreamchasers 2  - On the same day that he signed up for the Club Paradise Tour, Meek released his mixtape Dreamchasers 2 featuring Drake, Jeremih, Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz, French Montana and Fabolous.(Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)

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Meek Is Self Made - In 2011, soon after signing to MMG, Meek was featured on the Maybach Music Group collaborative album Self Made Vol. 1. The rookie made a statement on the track "Tupac Back," but shook up everyone's speakers on the Rick Ross-assisted certified club banger "I'ma Boss." Not too shabby Meek. (Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)

Meek Mill - Meek Mill is already up for Best Group as a result of his Maybach Music Group membership, but with his Dreamchasers mixtapes and "I'ma Boss," he made himself an easy choice for Best New Artist as well. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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Chasing His Dreams - Fans everywhere have been anticipating Meek Mill's debut studio album. While fans waited, Meek released the mixtape Dreamchasers 2. With appearances by Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Big Sean and hits like "Amen" and "Racked Up Shawty," it's no surprise that the mixtape has been downloaded over 1.6 million times since it's release in May 2012. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Second Time Around - There will always be naysayers, so while the haters were hoping that Meek wouldn't show up and show out on MMG's Self Made Vol. 2, he went in on every track that he was featured on. His verses on "Power Circle" and "Black Magic" are mean, but, in the typical and slightly ratchet fashion that Meek Mill embodies, he tore it up on the hit, "Actin' Up."  (Photo: John Ricard / BET)

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Second Time Around - There will always be naysayers, so while the haters were hoping that Meek wouldn't show up and show out on MMG's Self Made Vol. 2, he went in on every track that he was featured on. His verses on "Power Circle" and "Black Magic" are mean, but, in the typical and slightly ratchet fashion that Meek Mill embodies, he tore it up on the hit, "Actin' Up."  (Photo: John Ricard / BET)

May 22, 2012: "Wild Boy (Remix)"  - Meek was featured on the remix of MGK's "Wild Boy" which also featured Steve-O, 2 Chainz, Mystikal, French Montana and Yo Gotti. (Photo: John Ricard/BET)

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It Only Gets Better - Meek Mill has had an amazing introduction to the hip hop world and his legacy will continue to be built in October with the release of his debut album Dreams & Nightmares. If you need any more convincing when it comes to Philly's Meek Mill, then tune in to see what he does on stage at the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards on October 9 at 8P/7C! (Photo: John Ricard / BET)