This album is a crime against music. Send 6ix9ine back to jail.
‘My music’s not that good. But yo, my videos.’ This
is something that the rapper himself is quoted to have said in a meeting with a former record manager. The dude knows that his visuals are the main attraction – there’s
something undeniably fascinating about his tatted-up rainbow-haired appearance
and Willy-Wonka-And-The-Traphouse visuals. None of his fans are in it solely for
his music. NONE OF THEM. I refuse to believe otherwise.
To give 6ix9ine some credit, his shouty delivery is quite
distinctive. He just chooses to waste it by spouting out vapid lyrics and
jumping on beats so bland that even Migos would reject them in a heartbeat. His music would be a lot better if he stayed in Shouty Rap Mode instead of AutoTuned Reggaeton mode. This was one of the aspects
that really made me loathe his last record DUMMY BOY – half the songs were derivative auto-tuned Latin pop numbers that felt even less inspired than his rap tracks.
Going into this album Tattletales, I knew that it was
going to be much of the same dross. This begs the question: why bother listening to another
6ix9ine album? Well, if I’m honest, I haven’t written a scathingly negative
review in a while. I need to balance out all those glowing reviews. This was an
easy target.
I’ll admit that TattleTales does offer two brief glimmers
of potential. The first is opener ‘LOCKED UP PT. 2’, which sees 6ix9ine
getting surprisingly personal about his time behind bars. The sound of a jail
door slamming is repeated excessively throughout the track to the point that it
becomes comical, however it’s still the most serious track that the SoundCloud rapper has ever produced. Then there’s ‘GOOBA’ – while it swiftly
devolves into generic trap rap, the opening machine gun kick drums and
6ix9ine’s energetic delivery are quite thrilling.
The rest of the album however is an atrocity. Whoever mixed
this album must have been drunk – ‘TUTU’ noticeably drops in volume as the beat
comes in, while the shrill synth on ‘NINI’ is as pleasant to listen to as a
dentist drill. The lyrics meanwhile are even more lazy than on DUMMY BOY.
‘Ray Charles, I ain’t never seen a bitch I need’ on ‘CHARLIE’ is the only half-witty line on the album – and he proceeds to then re-use pretty
much exactly the same Ray Charles pun on ‘GATA’.
The record definitely feels rushed - the sloppy mixing and repetition of lyrics are clear proof of this. 6ix9ine
could do so much better if he put as much effort into his albums as he puts into his visuals. He also needs to drop the auto-tuned reggaeton tracks altogether and focus
on his shouty rap USP. Only then does he stand a chance of putting something
out that’s remotely enjoyable. If he can’t do that, he should give up
albums and stick to videos. Putting out lazy albums just for the sake of raking
in some extra revenue to buy his sixty-ninth Lamborghini is shameful behaviour – especially when
so many decent artists are pouring their blood, sweat and tears into records
that go unheard.
★☆☆☆☆
TRACK TASTER: