Jay-Z is helping produce the six-part series that will examine Mill's case, flaws in the legal system, and the negative effects of lengthy probation periods, Amazon Prime Video announced on Thursday.
Just over one week after Meek Mill was released from a state correctional institution in Chester, Pennsylvania, Amazon Prime Video announced that they are teaming up with the rapper for a documentary about his fight for exoneration and systemic flaws in the country's criminal justice system.
The six-part docu-series will examine Mill's "criminal justice odyssey" and will explore the detrimental and underreported consequences "long tail probation is having on urban communities of color," Amazon's release explained.
On April 24, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered the immediate release of the 30-year-old recording artist after he had already spent five months behind bars for violating probation stemming from a nearly decade-old gun and drug conviction when Mill was 19. He had been sentenced to two to four years back in November.
"I’m grateful for this unique opportunity to share my story and I look forward to collaborating with [Amazon Prime] on this incredible series," Mill shared in the statement released by the digital streaming entertainment platform.
"Not only will this documentary give viewers an unprecedented look at my life, but it will also allow me to use my public platform to highlight the need for criminal justice reform."
According to Amazon Prime Video, each hour-long episode of the series will follow the artist and his supporters "as they attempt to uncover the different facets of corruption that kept him under the thumb of Philadelphia’s criminal justice system for over a decade, while revealing his life post-incarceration."
The series will also examine his younger life and a childhood trauma that "shaped him as an artist," as well as what the release claims is a "vast conspiracy behind his latest imprisonment."
One of the show's executive producers is Jay-Z, who has been a vocal advocate on Mill's behalf since his re-incarceration.
The hip-hop mogul and music producer penned an impassioned essay defending Mill and condemning his sentencing, for the New York Times back in November.
"Meek was around 19 when he was convicted on charges relating to drug and gun possession, and he served an eight-month sentence," the rapper wrote. "Now he’s 30, so he has been on probation for basically his entire adult life. For about a decade, he’s been stalked by a system that considers the slightest infraction a justification for locking him back inside."
He went on to detail the circumstances surrounding the events that lead to Mill's probation violation, writing, "Look at what he’s being punished for now: In March, he was arrested after an altercation in a St. Louis airport. After video of what had actually happened was released, all charges were dropped against Meek. In August, he was arrested for popping a wheelie on a motorcycle on his video set in New York. Those charges were dismissed after he agreed to attend traffic school. Think about that. The charges were either dropped or dismissed, but the judge sent him to prison anyway."
The as-of-yet untitled docu-series is expected to premiere on Amazon Prime Video in 2019.
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