Before Maybach Music Group's shaped-up bad boy inked a deal with Rick Ross' Warner Bros. imprint, Meek Mill snagged a hefty co-sign and signing. In 2008, Meek Mill caught the eye of T.I. and shortly thereafter signed on to T.I.'s and Jason Geter's label, Grand Hustle Records.

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"His style and his skills speak for themselves," T.I. told Philly radio in the summer of 2008. "On top of that, you can YouTube Meek Mill and you'll see him holding his own in street battles, holding his own on the radio. I think the streets of Philly are behind him."

Unfortunately Mill's Grand Hustle signing fell through due to T.I.'s run-ins with the law. "After my two hiatuses I was put in a position where I couldn't really make moves on Meek as quick as he may have wanted to," T.I. told Billboard.com's The Juice. "I never been one want to hold anyone back or to slow down the success of anybody. I'm the first to try to enhance what you have and if I can't make it better than I shouldn't be a part of it."

T.I., who recently jumped on Meek Mill's "Ima Boss" remix, continued by congratulating Meek for his success. "I love what he's done and I love the fact that what I felt he was able to do, people now see. The potential that i saw in him and the things that I thought he was capable of doing it's been proven to be true."