The future is bright; the day of a 6ix9ine flop and his antics no longer translating into ridiculous numbers are upon us. Big Sean’s album took the lead this week, and while that is worthy of celebrating – the beginning of the end for 6ix9ine is a more momentous occasion. I am aware some will say I am here to hate, but is it really hating if the response is appropriate and warranted? We are talking about a loathsome individual, after all. I’ll leave his well-documented stint as a snitch out of this. Instead, take into account his recent behavior – because it stopped being about the music long ago.
spotify:album:1gjtbjn3Lsr8ZcLveXjhL0
(I included the album because I know you won’t listen to it.)
Prior to the release of the now certified flop, TattleTales, 6ix9ine pulled several publicity stunts attacking prominent artists, both dead and alive. Exiting the space of trolling, and ascending to new levels of disrespect, Daniel Hernandez embarked on a shit-kicking tour. Instead of the traditional media rounds, he used social media to be a nuisance and aggravator of the culture. The same culture he profits from, he turns around and spits in the face of it – frequently.
6ix9ine took on his competitors and even colleagues that still risked being associated with him. From disrespectfully pulling up at memorial sites associated with famous rappers including Nipsey Hussle’s mural in LA and Lil’ Durk’s cousin’s memorial in Chicago, to discrediting Nicki Minaj’s career and impact on the success on “Trollz”. For what it’s worth, predominantly every artist in his crossfires is Black. I’d be remiss if I didn’t think there were some racially motivated intentions. Not to mention, the New York Native, Mexican-American, is just too comfortable with the usage of the “N” word, for me. Let’s put that aside, though.
Tell The Truth, and Shame The Devil
Not only is the man disrespectful, but he’s also an outright liar. The self-proclaimed “numbers guy” was quick to point out the fact that “men lie, women lie, numbers don’t!” while breaking an Instagram live record earlier this year. It’s evident having a million Instagram Live viewers has little correlation to record sales and streams.
6ix9ine continues to claim he is being blackballed from Billboard and streaming services. A recent Billboard interview and article tells a different story.
Taken from this week’s Billboard Chart Beat: “6ix9ine’s TattleTales opens at No. 4 with 53,000 equivalent album units earned, notching the rapper his third top 10. Of the set’s starting sum, 32,000 are in album sales (supported by an array of merchandise/album bundles), 20,000 are in SEA units (equaling 32.94 million on-demand streams of the set’s songs) and 1,000 are in TEA units.
The album was preceded by a trio of tracks that hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart: “Gooba” (which peaked at No. 3), “Trollz,” with Nicki Minaj (which logged 6ix9ine his first No. 1 in June), and “Yaya” (No. 99).”
6ix9ine is a Flop Without a Co-Sign
A recent clip of the Joe Budden podcast puts things into perspective. Joe and crew revealed that they were not the only ones rejecting offers for interviews with 6ix9ine, whom they affectionally refer to as “Duke.” A quasi-famous Instagram lawyer’s post calling 6ix9ine out also reaffirms this notion. A silent, but obvious, exclusion from appearing on The Breakfast Club is also apparent. It seems the idea of a sit down with a friend and formerly successful media personality DJ Akademiks wasn’t even attractive to 6ix9ine and team.
It’s not all about the co-sign, though. Just as numbers don’t lie, they also don’t discriminate. Joe Budden explains it best in his recent podcast episode: “The projections are lower than what it would take for an artist to travel with 9 and 10 security guards everywhere he goes. See – that’s the part that the public never really deciphers. It’s not who flopped and who didn’t, it’s what comes in versus what’s spent — and this kid, it takes a lot for him to move around.”
With the focus on his music lost, this (hopefully) marks the beginning of the end for 6ix9ine. There is no good reason to believe he will retire from music, but there is much hope that it will fall upon deaf ears. Here’s to 6ix9ine and a continued career of flops.
