Meek Mill delivers stinging putdown of criminal justice system at the BET Awards

Meek - whose song 'Stay Woke' also features Miguel - rapped: "How can I pledge allegiance to the flag, when they killing all our sons, all our dads? I come from a place where you kill your own brother, you can brag."

At the start of his performance, Meek appeared on a street corner, where children were happily playing amongst themselves.

However, as the song developed, police officers ran out from nowhere and started arresting people.

Later during the performance, the 'Young & Gettin' It' hitmaker was joined on stage by a group of men who were wearing prison uniforms and were stood behind bars.

The rapper's socially-conscious performance drew praise from Meek's good pal Kevin Hart, who supported the hip-hop star through his legal troubles.

The comedian wrote on Twitter: "So happy & proud of my brother @MeekMill .....Great performance...Great message...STAND UP PHILADELPHIA!!!!! (sic)"

Meek was only released from prison in April, having spent five months behind bars in relation to a controversial probation violation.

Meanwhile, the American star - who was on parole following a drug and weapons conviction in 2008 - recently cancelled his scheduled trip to the White House to discuss prison reform.

Meek was supposed to attend the Prison Reform Summit held by President Donald Trump, but after receiving calls from various high-profile stars, including Jay-Z, the rapper decided to cancel his trip.

He explained: "I was originally scheduled to be part of a panel on Prison Reform at the White House to help shed light on the issues within the system. Unfortunately, the focus turned to the President and myself which concerned me that it might take away from creating a positive result from today's discussions.

"As a result, I decided not to attend so that the focus would be solely on fixing our prison system. Most importantly, I remain fully committed to improving our criminal justice system."