Meek Mill to Receive Billboard’s Inaugural R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players’ Impact Award

Billboard is throwing the inaugural installment of a new awards show dubbed R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players on Thursday (Sept. 27) and has announced that the event's marquee moment will be Meek Mill receiving a Power Players Impact Award.

CNN pundit Van Jones will present Meek the award, which will recognize the strength Meek has demonstrated in the face of America's criminal justice system, his fight for justice reform and music career.

In April, the Philadelphia rapper was released from a Pennsylvania state prison on bail after being sentenced last November to two to four years in prison. He's still fighting the probation violation charge that prompted the sentence, which was issued on the basis that he was arrested earlier last year, once for reckless driving and once for fighting at an airport, although both charges were dropped.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered Meek's release amid a contentious legal battle in which the rapper's lawyers argued that his judge was biased and that his original arresting officer, who was the sole witness in the 2008 trial for drug and firearm charges that later resulted in Meek's probation, was banned from witness stands by the Philadelphia District Attorney's office due to a history of "lying, racial bias, or brutality."

Since Meek's release, the Roc Nation signee has been an outspoken advocate for criminal justice reform. In addition to public comments, he formed a reform awareness foundation with Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin and partnered with Jay-Z to create a docu-series about about the criminal justice system.

See Photos of Meek Mill's Different Looks Over the Years