6ix9ine Mixtape Exceeds Low Expectations

Photo take from ScumGang Records

The “DAY69” album by 6ix9ine released on Feb. 23 demonstrates an abstract cover making a parody of the cartoon, “Adventure Time”.

Alexander Estes, Staff Writer

One of the most controversial artists has finally released his mixtape “DAY69.” The rapper 6ix9ine, also known as Tekashi, has released three total singles, “GUMMO,” “KOODA” and “KEKE” since last Nov. These have all reached spots on the Billboard Hot 100. Most prominently is “GUMMO,” which took the number six spot at one time.

Now before this tape came out, I was not expecting anything good. None of his previous singles really stood out other than “KOODA,” but even that seemed pretty weak lyrically and production wise. I never understood why everybody was so hyped about him, it’s almost like people like these artists as a joke or because of their persona and look, similar to Lil Pump or XXXTentacion, but 6ix9ine takes this to another level. He has the number “69” tattooed on him over 200 times and has rainbow hair; he is the definition of a clown. I see him on social media all the time, especially on Instagram because he is somewhat of a star on there and it makes me think, “What can this guy possibly deliver that’s of some quality?”

Even when his tracklist came out several days before its release, I was not impressed. In fact, it made me dread having to listen to it even more with its track names that sound like words you would say as a baby, like “BUBA,” “MOOKY” and “DOOWEE.” It was just an embarrassment to me that I thought it would be a complete waste of time to listen to.

Not only were my expectations blown out of the water, but I actually went out of my way to recommend this tape to some of my friends. The production on the tape is amazing, which the song “BILLY” shows perfectly. It includes hard-hitting bass and some sort of an electric feeling in the instrumentals, making it very fluid and hyper-aggressive. Every one of the 11 tracks on this tape are just aggressive since that’s his style in general.

If you compare this mixtape to Lil Pump’s first one a while back last year (which I wrote a review for as well). I mentioned in that review that Lil Pump’s music is pretty much for parties you are at with friends, but in my opinion, 6ix9ine’s tape does everything better than him. In comparison, Lil Pump’s production on the album is just boring while 6ix9ine’s is full of energetic fighting music. The production was much more clean and crisp, while maintaining that quality of having an “in your face” type of beat while Lil Pump’s is dirty and much more lazy.

Again, lyrically there really isn’t anything here to talk about; most of the lyrics are almost all similar and you could copy and paste any of his lyrics on another song and wouldn’t notice. This is my biggest gripe about him: his lyrics are plainly very simple and not anything nuts. Because of his aggressive style in his music you won’t really notice but his rhymes aren’t very deep or crazy. The only song in my opinion that he has a great show of lyrics is in “93” where he shows my favorite bar, “Pull up with the Glocks out, red dots out Pull them mops out and the chops out,” but even in this there isn’t any sign of anything lyrically worthwhile.

There is one song that sounds quite different in comparison to the rest of the songs and that is “CHOCOLATÉ.” Because every other song is pretty heated and forceful. This one has that energy in it but remains pretty calm and echoey with a pretty interesting instrumental. Sadly, the lyrics aren’t in match with the production, making it more lackluster with the rest of the tape. The rest of the songs on here are pretty similar, and if you want to listen to them you can easily, as the whole tape is only 27 minutes long.

Overall, this tape is something that I was personally pretty impressed with with what I thought I was expecting. The songs were extremely hard, it made me want to fight the whole time and I definitely turned the volume up all the way listening to them. I would not listen to these songs if you want some stuff with deep lyrics or introspective material. More or less you listen to this if you are at a party or working out. I would also recommend this if you listen to Lil Pump, because they are pretty similar in their formula in which they make their art. You can listen to this on any music streaming platform including Apple Music, Spotify or Soundcloud. But be sure to turn your volume down listening to 6ix9ine because your ears will most likely bleed if it is too loud.