Facing Possible Life Sentence, 6ix9ine Releases Debut Album

6ix9ine, aka Teka$hi69, is one of those scumbag gang-affiliated rappers (which is to say, most of them) with an ever-growing tally of criminal transgressions to go along with his media acclaim, enormous fanbase and hit songs, which have charted high and been certified gold/platinum. The breakout star, born Daniel Henderson, did time for heroin distribution as a teen, and regularly struts alongside members of the Bloods and Crips in his music videos, which have logged hundreds of millions of views. Back in 2015 he starred in another kind of video, an amateur kiddie porn clip in which he is seen smacking a nude 13-year-old girl on the ass and thrusting his pelvis at her while she gives head to another upstanding adult male. For this, under terms of a plea deal, he was given a whopping four years probation. He copped another plea deal for assaulting a NYC police officer back in May. In July he was arrested on an outstanding warrant for allegedly choking a 16-year-old in Houston. In early November, he allegedly punched the mother of his five-year-old daughter in the mouth. There’s more, but you get the picture. Homie has successfully amassed more-than-adequate street cred.

But the most serious charges came on Nov. 18, when the 22-year-old rapper, his former manager Kifano “Shotti” Jordan and several other associates were arrested by federal agents on an assload of serious indictments including racketeering, armed robbery, narcotics distribution, conspiracy to commit murder and more. The arrests came after a five-year investigation into the activities of a violent sect of the Bloods street gang called Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. 6ix9ine is thought to be a member of the gang. During a court hearing on Nov. 27, 6ix9ine and the others pleaded not guilty to the charges. (One co-defendant, who goes by the name “Crippy,” was not present, as he was in the hospital recovering from being shot during an October dinner meeting that turned violent between 6ix9ine and Elliot Grainge, head of the rapper’s [possibly former] label 10k Projects.) (Grainge is the son of Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge. UMG distributes 10k Projects.)

Apparently the feds had planted an informant within 6ix9ine’s crew, who supposedly recorded incriminating conversations with the rapper. As of now, the trial is scheduled to take place next September, with Henderson facing 32 years to life in prison if convicted. In the midst of all this activity, his debut studio album Dummy Boy was scheduled to be released on Nov. 23 but was indefinitely postponed by the label upon his arrest. On Nov. 24, however, Dummy Boy (which features guest spots from, among others, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Tory Lanez, Gunna, Anuel AA and Bobby Shmurda, the latter of whom recorded his part over the phone from prison) was leaked via 6ix9ine’s own website, and subsequently a new distribution deal was arranged with Create Music Group, who officially released the album on Nov. 27. It looks poised to be a smash.