Three weeks removed from being released from jail, Meek Mill recently sat down with The Breakfast Club to deliver a hard truth: not even he could afford his legal fees.

“JAY-Z is actually responsible for some of my legal fees, which I thought was the dopest in the world because it was some millions of dollars,” Mill said. “I don’t even think I could have afforded it.”

How’s that for perspective? 

Here’s an RIAA Platinum-selling artist who is signed to MMG, with a management deal at Roc Nation, who admitted that he alone couldn’t afford the cost of his nearly year-long trial over a probation violation. His admission is a further reminder that the average Black man in America, without the accolades and the connections and the accumulation of wealth through record sales and touring, would not have stood half a chance in this legal battle.

Mill’s humility at this moment reflects his original statement to Billboard the day of his release, wherein he said: “Although I’m blessed to have the resources to fight this unjust situation, I understand that many people of color across the country don’t have that luxury and I plan to use my platform to shine a light on those issues.”