After about a week of encouraging fans to support and purchase their new record "Trollz," 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj's efforts have paid off.
On Monday (June 22), Billboard announced that the New York rappers have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with their recently released collab. 6ix9ine and Nicki's victory with "Trollz" knocks DaBaby and Roddy Ricch's "Rockstar" to the No. 2 spot while Lil Baby's "The Bigger Picture" comes in at No. 3 this week.
And of course, 6ix9ine celebrated the feat via Instagram, doubling down on claims that he has been blackballed by the music industry. "Didn't I tell you, nigga?," Tekashi began in the clip posted to social media. "I can't be stopped, nigga. Didn't I tell you? And we got blackballed. You can't blackball me. Listen, I'm telling you, I'm going on a seven-day rant. You better unfollow me ’cause I'm going on a seven-day rant. Y'all tried to blackball me on radio, y'all tried to blackball me on radio. Apple Music, Spotify, didn't give us no playlisting. I can't be stopped, nigga. No. fucking 1, nigga. This for the fans. We can't do this without y'all. We beat the industry. Fuck is y'all talking about? I can't be stopped, nigga."
Nicki also weighed in on their joint win. "No words yet," she wrote on Twitter. "All I can muster up is the 'I love you'. Gimme a sec."
About an hour or so later, Nicki uploaded a video to her social media thanking her fans for supporting the record. "Y'all did this with no playlisting and no radio," she began. "And, it's just not happening in 2020. All the records on the top of the chart right now are doing that with heavy playlisting and heavy radio. So, for us to do that…debuting? That's insane. So, I love you guys so much. We just did the highest pure sales of the year of every song released. And, you can't buy that. That's fan love."
Create Music Group, the distributor of 6ix9ine's music, also released a statement regarding the rapper's No. 1 record. "Tekashi 6ix9ine is without a doubt one of the most galvanizing figures making music today," said Create Music Group Founder and CEO, Jonathan Strauss. "We are thrilled that we've been able to attain what many in our industry thought was impossible—being the first independent distributor to achieve a Number One single on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart since streaming surpassed sales as the dominant form of music consumption. We built our company for the modern artist and this is a watershed moment for fully independent labels, distributors and music creators everywhere."
Last week, 6ix9ine posted about his expectations for "Trollz" to land at the top spot on the chart. "We going #1 nothing will stop me. You can't cheat me," Tekashi wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post. "Blackballed don' t work for me. I am too big of a star."
Baby's "Rockstar" landed at the No. 1 spot on the chart two weeks ago after spending eight weeks on the publication's ranking system.
"Trollz" landing at No. 1 follows 6ix9ine's attack on Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber after the pair's "Stuck With U" single went No. 1 over his post-prison release "Gooba," which debuted at No. 2. Just before the news of "Stuck With U" debuting at the top spot was announced, Tekashi accused Ariana, Justin and Billboard of manipulating streaming numbers to secure their victory.
"They bought 30,000 units with six credit cards," the Brooklyn rapper said, referring to Grande and Bieber's song. "Six credits cards. Now, again, you're gonna enjoy your No. 1. Explain how you buy 30,000 with six credit cards?"
Congrats to 6ix9ine and Nicki.
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