After testifying against the Nine Trey Bloods gang as part of a plea deal, no one ever expected to hear from Tekashi 6ix9ine again. Many expected the 23-year-old to disappear into witness protection, but that clearly wasn’t the case. The rainbow-haired, face-tatted New Yorker that has become synonymous with the words “SoundCloud Rap” released “GOOBA” on May 8. Anyone expecting a profound reflection on his prison stint or past behavior was greeted with six women – representing different colors of the rainbow in Tekashi’s hair – twerking in what has to be Tekashi’s basement. Paint gets splattered. Women get dirty. Tekashi shows off his house-arrest ankle bracelet. Deep stuff.
As for lyrics, it’s the same tired mixture of misogyny and homophobia, but the rapper does address how everyone in the hip hop world is calling him a snitch. “N*ggas tweetin’ bout me, got me trendin’, b*tch you big sad / Tell me how I rat and came home to a big bag.”
Right before Tekashi released the video, Meek Mill became the latest rapper to take a shot (metaphorically) at Tekashi for snitching out on his former associates. “I hope that rat going live to apologize to the people he told on or the victim….. Y’all forgot that fast a “rat” killed [Nipsey Hussle] he wasn’t suppose to be on the streets! That’s the only thing ima day because he’s dead… left his baby mom and child like a coward as targets!” he tweeted.
I hope that rat going live to apologize to the people he told on or the victim….. Y’all forgot that fast a “rat” killed nipsey he wasn’t suppose to be on the streets! That’s the only thing ima day because he’s dead… left his baby mom and child like a coward as targets!
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) May 8, 2020
Fans suspected something was coming. Tekashi, through his legal team, asked Judge Paul A. Engelmayer to expand his house arrest to include his backyard for the purpose of filming a music video, per Complex. He was also given permission to spend “no more than eight hours per day in his home recording studio,” and his recording sessions must be approved by his parole officer. Takashi also hinted that something was coming on May 8, before revealing he was going Live on Instagram.
How did we get to have new music from 6ix9ine? The rapper, born Daniel Hernandez, was released from prison in April due to the COVID-19 coronavirus. Tekashi was set for an August release, but his lawyer argued that he recently experienced “some shortness of breath,” and if he were to contract the coronavirus, “he could die,” per Complex. So, the judge granted him a compassionate release, allowing Tekashi to serve out the rest of his 24-month prison sentence while under house arrest. The rapper had already served 13 months of the two-year punishment when he was formally sentenced in December 2019.
Tekashi was arrested in November 2018 alongside other alleged members of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. The rapper was looking at about 37 years in prison, so he pled guilty to nine charges, including racketeering, and informed on his associates. He testified as a witness during the trials of Anthony Ellison and Aljermiah Mack. Before his sentencing – which includes five years of supervised release, 300 hours of community service, and a #35,000 fine – the rapper wrote a letter to the presiding judge. “I now know that I am remorseful for what happened because I was blessed with the gift of an opportunity that most people dream of, but I squandered it by getting involved with the wrong people and misrepresenting myself when I should have been true to myself and my fans,” he wrote, per CNN.
Since returning home to serve out the rest of his sentence, Tekashi has been “very happy,” his attorney Lance Lazzaro told HollywoodLife. The rapper is also “looking forward to his future and having a second start.”