PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rapper Meek Mill says he always thought ten years of probation would bring him back to prison.

Mill spoke to news anchor Lester Holt from a Pennsylvania prison in a phone interview that aired Thursday on “NBC Nightly News.”

The Philadelphia-born rapper, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, is fighting for release while appealing a two- to four-year sentence for a probation violation.

A judge said his drug use, arrests and other issues while under supervision merited the jail time. Mill’s lawyers accuse her of a “personal vendetta.”

Mill tells Holt when he’s released, he sees himself “helping minorities that come from these situations like myself.”

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin visited Mill in prison Tuesday. Afterward, Kraft called for reform of the criminal justice system. Philadelphia’s mayor visited Wednesday.