Meek Mill and The-Dream Perform 'Young Black America' on 'Fallon'

Prior to his arrest on Thursday (Aug. 17), Meek Mill performed his socially-conscious and politically-charged single “Young Black America” on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

Backed by The Roots and The-Dream, the Philly rapper took the mic and stood center stage to rap about the struggle for justice and harmony. Throughout the performance of the Wins & Losses standout, a young black man sat in a school desk beside Mill, seemingly listening to his every word.

“Just telling my story,” raps Meek. “All guts, no glory / Been going on before me / Were slaves in the ’40s / Still slaves in the present / No toys for Christmas, ain’t get us no presents.”

After The-Dream came onstage to deliver his harmonies on the track, Meek shook hands with the young student in the chair. “He stumbled, he fumbled,” Meek rapped. “Young ni**a, just rumble / They chose you to hustle / Those suckers don’t love you.”

After performing on the late night program, Meek was pulled over and arrested on charges of reckless endangerment for allegedly popping wheelies on a dirt bike the night before. Prosecutors have since dropped those charges and will instead hit him with a misdemeanor.

Meek’s attorney Joe Tacopina spoke to TMZ on Meek’s behalf today. “You have a guy who literally popped a wheelie for 10 seconds on the street with no one else around and the police were there and saw it that night,” he said. “They didn’t arrest him, charge him with reckless endangerment, they didn’t even give him a traffic ticket.”

The day after, however, Meek was arrested in what Tacopina calls “one of the most outrageous fashions” that he’s ever seen. “What’s very telling about the police department’s intent here and how they view this,” he said. “They had 22 police cars to arrest Meek Mill on a traffic violation. I think when John Gotti was arrested, they had four police cars. It just goes to tell you what’s in their state of mind. It was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.”