Hip-hop isn't always the most organized musical genre. Things leak, get pushed back, or premiere on exclusive platforms. Back in 2016, we had to wait days for Kanye West's The Life of Pablo to even appear anywhere other than TIDAL. Earlier this month, 6ix9ine announced that he would be releasing a new project before the end of November. It would be the official follow-up to Day 69, a work that helped to kick off the artist's notoriety. Everything about Tekashi is a little messy. In that sense, his album rollout seemed destined to be wild from the start.
As the original release date neared, the Brooklyn native continued to share a flurry of snippets, informing fans that Lil Baby, Tory Lanez, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, and more would be featured on the project. At this point, the hype was pretty high but it would soon grow to a new level.
6ix9ine hopped on Instagram to tell all his supporters that he had fired his entire crew, explaining the reasoning on an episode of The Breakfast Club. He seemed more stressed than usual and, in a few days time, we would come to comprehend why.
On November 19, Tekashi 6ix9ine was arrested with several members of his team on racketeering and weapons charges. It became public knowledge that he was facing a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty. At this point, it became clear that the album would need to take a backseat, which it did. Updates continued to break out about his complicated legal situation as he was moved to a new facility and presumed to have been providing information to the feds.
Over the weekend, DUMMY BOY leaked online after appearing on the rapper's website shortly. Many were quick to check it out, pointing out their favorite songs and agreeing that he had come through with a dozen hits. That was Tekashi's goal after all; he stated that he wanted this album to be filled with non-skippable songs.
Of course, with the album now being available on all streaming platforms, we're left with some questions. Will this be the last we hear from 6ix9ine? If he's locked up for the remainder of his life, it very likely is. The conspiracy theorists out there are asking whether this was all just a ruse for album promotion. The skeptics are likely incorrect, even considering how extra Tekashi has proven to be in the past. However, in terms of his music, this all worked in his favor. Everybody is tuning into 6ix9ine's new album, regardless of how they feel about him. The one-of-a-kind nature of this rollout has all of us genuinely interested in his situation.
Whether you're on team "Free 6ix9ine" or team "keep him locked up," you likely tuned in to check out the end result, which ultimately works out in his favor.