Tekashi 6ix N9ne has built a successful rap career off of a public image fueled by outspoken and controversial conduct on social media and celebrities feud and a list of legal issues that ended led to his arrest on racketeering charges in October 2018. The New York rapper originally pleaded not guilty but quickly changed it to guilty after pleading a deal with law enforcements on the Trial of Nine Trey Gangsters. With enough controversy to fuel his music, 69 released his highly successful debut album Dummy Boy while behind bars. As of last week, Tekashi has been released from prison a year short of his 2-year prison sentence for safety concerns related to COVID-19 and being vulnerable due to asthma. Tekashi will serve the rest of his sentence on home confinement, which is basically what most Americans are experiencing right now.
So what’s next for the controversial New York rapper? Last year Tekashi scored a massive $10 million dollar deal with 10K Projects from prison with reports of an English and Spanish album. With social media influencers and creatives taking time to work on projects, this would be the perfect time to produce both albums. However being on both quarantine and probation, it's hard to fuel his career via social media like he used to. According to his attorney, the rapper vows to behave well on social media avoiding gang affiliation and/or celebrity feuds. Today Tekashi caught headlines for commenting on a post about the LA mayor rewarding citizens who “snitch” on those violating the stay-at-home order with “coming to the rescue”.
Although Six Nine has the tools and the freedom needed to produce another album, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll listen to it! We no longer want to hear about how gangster Tekashi thinks he is, especially after working with the feds. However, with the current state of hip-hop praising who is popular versus who is talented and the line between what’s real and fake in Tekashi’s world anyways, Tekashi has a shot at making a comeback. You know what they say, “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it”. Whether the rapper decides to start a new page with a different tone or continue to increase the numbers with controversy, Tekashi is on his way back! The question, is will you be listening?
Photo from Getty Images