Before getting an opportunity to release music on a larger scale, was feeding the streets of Philadelphia with the hottest mixtapes on the market, dropping fire after fire on a regular basis. The critically-acclaimed Grammy-nominated rapper is , which is set for a release later this year, but today he decided to rewind the hands of time a touch, looking back to some of the first bodies of work he ever crafted.

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We’re guaranteeing that the majority of people reading this weren’t aware of many of these mixtapes when they first dropped, with the exception of maybe one or two. Even if you’re the most dialled-in from your group of hip-hop-head friends, these were so localized that mostly only Philly fans would have heard of them. Back when he was sporting the long braids, Meek Mill worked out of a minor label called Headshot Records before moving to GT Franchise and, finally, Grand Hustle. Releasing a bunch of mixtapes while he was making a name for himself, the rapper shared the covers for each one, including his Flamers series, Mr. Philadelphia hosted by DJ Ill Will and DJ Rockstar, and an early offering called The Real Me. These days, we know him more for the Dreamchasers projects, Dreams and Nightmares, and Championships but before he became a household name, this is the kind of stuff he was coming in with.

If you’re discouraged about how your music career is moving, just remember that it took Meek Mill several tries to finally get on. Use this as your motivation of the day.