Tekashi 6ix9ine — Day69
Keeps the same energy
Tekashi’s energy is infectious, with Billy and Rondo he keeps providing the sound he has trademarked. That sound is what sets him apart from the rest of mainstream rap. This is much unlike, Camila Cabello’s debut project which unsuccesfully tried to cover as much ground as possible, mainly as she has not claimed her own trademark sound. Rondo and Billy shows that 6ix9ine knows what he’s good at, and what fans would want- unabashed hyperenergetic street rap.
Guest Features (for the most part)
Tekashi’s energy in music moves other artists to try and match his energy. Best example is the versatile Young Thug. Instead of rapping in his slower style, he matches the energy and delivers a fantastic guest feature. Fetty Wap and A Boogie come through, just about, on Keke bringing their own interpretations on the sound. Fetty Wap seems to wrestle the sound of Tekashi as well as Young Thug did, showing how guest artists can cope with the intensity of 6ix9ine’s sound.
Offset’s feature on the Gummo Remix, is problematic. His usual triplet flow works best on beats that are more atmospheric. Gummo, is very in your face, requires more energy to make it work. The less than stellar performance from Offset might be a consequence of Migos’ strategy of flooding the market, which puts placement ahead of quality.
Repetitive content
His constant references to his casual association to gang culture, always repeating how tough he is abound in the album. The usual critical line would be that repetition is a sign of a talent gap. However if you are a rapper being pushed by your handlers to be a star for the social media age, repetition is a great tool to be used to get people to remember you. Lil Pump’s Gucci Gang succeeded because of constant references to the song title.
In any case, the constant references to gang culture are more for his audience to get the point that Tekashi is trying to hammer home. That he is from the street and his music is for the street, and that everyone else has to meet him on his own terms.
Brevity
In the same vein as his contemporary xxxtentancion, 6ix9ine has kept his debut project short. With so much music in the rap world, a short album full of alot of energy, is marketing gold. You don’t have to worry that hardcore fans would get bored, the album is 27 minutes long and does not waste time. Couple that with a high intensity apporach you are guarenteed to hold people’s attention.
This debut project, underscores a trend in rap at the moment. Younger rappers are being managed by social media experts more than record labels. The albums are getting shorter, their style is getting more flamboyant, and the rappers themselves are a constant presence on social media. Whether this bad for music or is for debate worth having. For now we can look at how this plays out in hip hop.
