Rainbow-haired rapper and lawsuit magnet Tekashi 6ix9ine wants to set the record straight. He did not steal his name from the Brooklyn tattoo artist who sued him in 2021.
According to the New York Post, Takashi Matsuba filed a defamation lawsuit last year against the rapper because he believed his name, which the rapper stole, was being run in the mud by the artist and his shenanigans.
The Japanese ink master said he became aware of the Brooklyn artist after he watched two documentaries about the rapper.
Takashi Matsuba believes the fact that the name is almost identical (save an “e” replacing an “a”), and his heavily tattooed body would make the average fan think the two were related or the same person.
Matsuba stated in his lawsuit, that the two documentaries Hulu’s “69: The Saga of Danny Hernandez” and Showtime’s “Supervillain: The Making of Tekashi 6ix9ine” identified him as the inspiration and erroneously alluded to Matsuba doing heroin for inspiration.
The “Gooba” chart-topper said he had nothing to do with the two films and did not “recognize the voice in the documentary as mine” during the segment about Matsuba.
In a legal filing submitted to the courts, the rapper said his name “has nothing to do with the plaintiff, Takashi Matsuba.” He said he was inspired by an Asian anime character of the same name.
There are two: One from a film called “Akira” and the other from “High School of the Dead.”
As you see, the name is common, and the rapper’s lawyer said the plaintiff “seeks to commandeer and restrict the use of his common Japanese first name.”
He has recently dropped Tekashi and now only goes by 6ix9ine, but he’s being sued over that name too.