With the arrival on his first post-prison album TattleTales, 6ix9ine sat down for a lengthy chat with Carl Lamarre of Billboard to cover a wide range of topics. As with his interview in the New York Times, 6ix9ine expressed very little in the way of regret, talked about his stint in prison, and why he cooperated with the authorities.
Upon announcing the release of TattleTales, 6ix9ine posted a video of himself gloating that he was in Chicago. Two of the city’s rappers, Lil Durk and Lil Reese, weren’t too happy about his presence. Ever since, Durk and Reese have been trading shots with 6ix9ine, with him posting old footage that appears to show Reese getting jumped at one point. 6ix9ine pressured Lamarre into saying it was only one person hitting Reese in the clip, although he didn’t want to say how many there were for sure either way. 6ix9ine even went so far as to bring up the video on his phone. “Lil Reese is being handled by one guy,” he said, showing the video on what seemed to be a separate phone.
”I’m with security in Chicago, right? Am I superstar or a SoundCloud rapper?” he asked, addressing accusations that he was “scared” because he went to the city with security. “There’s a whole picture of Drake with security and a bulletproof vest in Chicago, right? Nobody say he’s scared. … But the moment Tekashi rolls around with security, no bullet proof vest, oh he’s scared.”
He continued to get hung-up on Drake’s bulletproof vest, and Lamarre contested that people had called 6ix9ine scared because he has been antagonizing people whereas Drake hasn’t and needs the security because he’s the biggest rapper in the world. “Basically it’s like, Pop Smoke yourself, right? That’s what you’re telling me,” 6ix9ine said.
Later on in the interview, he circled back round to the topic of Chicago, questioning if Lil Durk had ever scored a No. 1 single like he had. "So what makes you think Lil Durk can fuck with me?" he asks Lamarre, to which he replied that Durk hasn't gotten hung-up on his numbers. "When you don't got money you know what broke people say? 'Money don't matter man.' ... If Lil Durk went to fucking Argentina right now you think people would fucking parade and say, 'Oh my god!' Who's the bigger artist? It's no trick question."
He continued to ask Lamarre who the bigger artist between him and Durk, who he called a "little kid" he could outsell without even promoting his record. "Lil Durk is on the same level as like, the G-Herbo kid," he said. 6ix9ine claimed if he went outside of his car and walked up to any stranger, they wouldn't know who G-Herbo is but they would know who he is. "It's no competition, man, it's like little kids," he reiterated.
While 6ix9ine said he is “a big fan of Travis Scott,” he also spoke at length about his issue with merch and ticket “bundles” that contribute towards the chart performance of an album. Country artist Kenney Chesney swooped the No. 1 spot from Drake earlier this year following the release of Dark Lane Demo Tapes, and 6ix9ine highlighted that Chesney got to that spot through bundle sales for a tour that he eventually cancelled anyway. “The rona too, Lamarre contested, although 6ix9ine questioned why the situation with Chesney happened in May, months after the coronavirus pandemic hit the States.
Durk decided to respond after 6ix9ine's TattleTales reached No. 1 on the US iTunes chart. "Thank me later this what happen when you mention me and buy views," he wrote. 6ix9ine caught wind of the comment and fired back, writing, "Mention you? U have 18,000,000 less followers then [sic] me GO SPIN ON THE PEOPLE WHO KILLED YA COUSIN."
.@6ix9ine's 'TattleTales' has reached #1 on US iTunes.
Elsewhere in his Billboard interview, 6ix9ine took a moment to defend his former collaborator Tory Lanez, who allegedly shot Megan Thee Stallion.
Prior to the release of TattleTales, 6ix9ine informed his fans via Instagram that he had an old record with Tory "that he cleared for me in 2017." Tekashi asked fans if he should put it on the album, calling the song a "fuckin' hit." Lamarre asked the controversial rapper about whether the song would turn up on TattleTales—which it ultimately didn't—and he made it clear he wanted it on there.
"I want to," 6ix9ine said when asked if he was going to include it. "At the end of the day, Tory's my brother. I understand what he goes through, but imagine turning my back on Tory now when everybody turning their back. That's not fair to him, know what I'm saying? We haven't heard from Tory what happened to him. The media can fucking turn anything, we gotta hear from him, his side. ... So when Tory speaks and says, 'Nah it didn't happen that way,' or, 'Yes I did do that, I'm sorry,' we need to give him a chance just like we give everybody a chance."
6ix9ine also took aim at T.I. in the interview, seemingly implying that the Atlanta rapper and actor also cooperated with authorities in order to get reduced prison time in 2009. "A lot of these rappers are snitches, but people don't want to accept that, right? I don't know the brother T.I., right? But I can understand that he's not comfortable with his truth," he said. "How did T.I. do one year? They don't want a reason to like me. They want a reason to hate me."
Watch the full interview over at Billboard.
