Meek Mill

He was born Robert Rihmeek Williams in an area of South Philadelphia where gun crime and poverty were rife. Young Robert's father was shot and killed when he was five years old, after which his grandmother and uncle, Grandmaster Nell, took him under their care.

During his early teenage years, Williams often took part in rap battles, under the pseudonym Meek Millz. Later, he formed a rap quartet. "I was in a group, BloodHoundz, me and my little homies from around the way. But we all started getting locked up and everyone started going their different ways," he said of the group.

His big break came when Rick Ross, passing through Philadelphia in 2010, asked his Twitter followers what local rapper he should work with while in town. Meek Mill was the overwhelming response. Ross jumped on the remix of the Philly rapper's "Rosé Red" and the following February announced the signing of Mill to his Maybach Music Group (MMG).