Tekashi 6ix9ine Fans Think Billboard Retaliated Against Him
Ever since he was released from prison, Tekashi 6ix9ine’s been feuding, trolling, and ranting. His most recent beefs are with Snoop Dogg and Billboard, and though he has his fan base, he is still managing to anger people.
Labeled a snitched by various artists and members of the general public, 6ix9ine is making the time to address the controversy with more controversy via music and social media posts. But now his fans think his problem with Billboard took an odd turn.
Tekashi 6ix9ine released a new single
In case you missed it, the rapper dropped “Gooba” and its accompanying video on May 8. On YouTube, it’s racked up more than 180 million views. Media outlets jumped on it because the lyrics take shots at anyone who’s mad that he’s back on the scene.
There’s even rat imagery in the video to make light of the fact that people keep calling him a rat.
The song put Tekashi back on the streaming charts during its first week, and it was catching up to the “Say So” remix, Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” featuring Beyonce, and Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber’s “Stuck With U.”
It was possible that “Gooba” could snag the number one spot. It was here where tensions started to rise.
Tekashi 6ix9ine accused Billboard of running schemes
Not one to shy away from Instagram Live even when he is ducking enemies and relocating, Tekashi 6ix9ine spent a few minutes blasting Billboard.
He accused them of using bias and manipulating the chart numbers in favor of other artists—specifically Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber for their “Stuck With U” single.
He slammed Billboard and questioned how Grande’s song could jump from number five to number one within hours and said he had emails from labels to back his claims up. Tekashi also suspected that someone from Grande’s team or record label paid Billboard to clench the position.
According to Complex, he pointed to a tweet sent out by Billboard that promoted free signed CD singles of “Stuck With U,” which to him, meant that they were in on something together. At first, Billboard remained silent.
Tekashi’s fans suspicious of Billboard
On Sunday, May 17, fans scouted Billboard’s website for Tekashi’s artist page and it didn’t come up. In contrast, artists such as Halsey and Drake still have artist profiles on the site. Some Tekashi 6ix9ine fans found the timing weird given his latest tirade.
On the flip side, the company finally decided to address the rapper’s claims that they discounted his streams.
On May 18, Billboard published an article explaining how they arrived at their Hot 100 calculations for the week in question. Tekashi 6ix9ine’s “Gooba” placed third, with “Stuck With U” in first place and “Say So” at number two.
The piece clarified that YouTube streams are considered global plays and the Hot 100 only applies to US streams. Therefore, Billboard did not include that in the counts for “Gooba.”
The article also stated that the chart Tekashi referenced in his Instagram video is not one provided or sanctioned by Billboard. “Billboard does not distribute any Hot 100 ranking forecast to labels, management or artists.”
Online, Tekashi 6ix9ine’s fans were verbally battling it out with Grande/Bieber fans. It caused Grande to speak out and say there was no dishonesty involved in the race to number one. As it stands, Tekashi is at number three for his track’s first week.
