Rapper Meek Mill won’t be able to leave the area for at least a month and must perform community service, a Philadelphia judge decided Monday.
Meek Mill, whose real name is Robert Williams, can’t travel anywhere until Jan. 16, outside of an upcoming Hurricane Sandy benefit concert at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.
“I got nothing to hide, I’m working,” Meek Mill told NBC10 last week.
He was supposed to appear on Conan in Los Angeles this week before wrapping up his year touring in Africa. That won’t happen now.
"You need to get yourself together," Common Court Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley said during Monday's 2-1/2 hour probation hearing, according to Philly.com.
The rapper got in trouble for violating his probation and reportedly ignoring an earlier ruling to stop scheduling upcoming performances. His troubles began when he served time for 2008 weapons and drug charges.
Meek Mill told NBC10’s Lu Ann Cahn that he was pulled over for having tinted windows while he was in Philly in late October -- he had told his probation officer he was going to be in New York before heading to Atlanta, but he came to Philly first after Superstorm Sandy devastated New York City.
The 25-year-old North Philly native told Cahn that he hoped all travel bans would be lifted.
“I’m out here doing good. Until I start doing something bad that’s when I think it should be a problem.”
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For now, Meek Mill’s career is grounded right when it is beginning to go global. His first full-length album Dreams and Nightmares (released Oct. 30) recently debuted at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums charts, his Facebook page is liked by nearly 1.4 million people and his collaborations with Drake, Rick Ross and the Maybach Music Group has Meek Mill in demand.
Mill told NBC10 that he needs to make money touring so he can support his child, his family and an entourage of dozens. For now record sales, which have declined steeply since his debut (this week his album sales dropped to 89th), will be the main source of his income.
Meek Mill might be making a record store appearence in the city Tuesday but details remained unclear.
