Billboard Slams Tekashi 6ix9ine’s Claim That Charts Are Rigged

*Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber have responded to Tekashi 6ix9ine’s claims that the teams behind both artists cheated their way to the top of the Billboard charts by buying plays and downloads of their collab “Stuck With U.”

As noted by Complex, after his latest song “Gooba” debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Tekashi posted a video to Instagram on Monday claiming that his team launched an “investigation” and discovered that “six credit cards” were used to purchase 30,000 units of the Justine and Ariana track. 

“When we asked where was those six credit cards linked to, Billboard said we can’t disclose that information,” Tekashi said in the video. 

On his Instagram Story, he wrote “Billboard YOU CHEATED. Jay-Z & Nicki Minaj were right people buy there [sic] number 1’s nothing is real you guys are frauds.” 

He’s referring to Jay-Z’ s verse on Meek Mill’s “What’s Free,” which alludes to “inflating numbers” on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Nicki Minaj also called out the Billboard 200 Chart after her album Queen debuted at No. 2 behind Travis Scott’s Astroworld.

“It’s all manipulated, it’s all fabricated,” 69 said, accusing Billboard of “disqualifying” 20 million of his song’s streams

Hear/watch him tell it via the IG clip below. 

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View this post on Instagram

 

@billboard YOU’RE A LIE AND CORRUPT. YOU GOT CAUGHT CHEATING AND THE WORLD WILL KNOW.

A post shared by IM BACK AND THEY MAD (@6ix9ine) on May 18, 2020 at 10:46am PDT

The rapper then announced plans to drop another track on Friday, May 22.

“I prove I’m the king of Instagram,” he said in a since-deleted Instagram post, per XXL. “AND I TOOK BACK THE KING OF NEW YORK. I prove that to you with numbers. The internet was dead without me.” 

Ariana responded to 6ix9ine in a lengthy post, saying: “I would like to say a few things,” she wrote. “I didn’t have a number one for the first five years of my career and it didn’t upset me at all because from the bottom of my heart, my music is everything to me. My fans are everything to me. I promise I couldn’t ask for another fucking thing.”

She went on to slam the accusation that her and Bieber’s team purchased streams and digital song downloads of the track. 

“Our fans bought this song (never more than four copies each, AS THE RULES STATE),” she continued. “Sales count for more than streams. U can not discredit this as hard as u try.” She suggested anyone doubting the success of the song to “humble yourself.” 

Read her full response below. 

 

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thank u to everybody who supported this song, this cause and made this happen. we love uuuuu so much. ? there’s so much to celebrate today. ? however, i would like to say a few things. anyone who knows me or has followed me for a while knows that numbers aren’t the driving force in anything i do. i’m grateful to sing. grateful to have people who want to listen. grateful to even be here at all. i didn’t have a number one for the first five years of my career and it didn’t upset me at all because from the bottom of my heart, music is everything to me. my fans are everything to me. i promise i couldn’t ask for another fucking thing. so with this celebration today, i would like to address a few things which i don’t usually do (i don’t give my energy to drama or strange accusations normally but this has gone a little too far)…my fans bought the song. JUSTIN’S fans bought the song. OUR fans bought this song (never more than four copies each, AS THE RULES STATE). they are ride or die motherfuckers and i thank god every day that i have them in my life. not just when they fight for us to win (even when i ask them not to as i did this week) but because they’re some of the greatest people i know. sales count for more than streams. u can not discredit this as hard as u try. to anybody that is displeased with their placement on the chart this week or who is spending their time racking their brain thinking of as many ways as they can to discredit hardworking women (and only the women for some reason…..), i ask u to take a moment to humble yourself. be grateful you’re even here. that people want to listen to u at all. it’s a blessed position to be in. i’ve had a lot of “almost number ones” in my career and i never said a goddamn thing because I FEEL GRATEFUL TO EVEN BE HERE. TO WANT TO BE HEARD AT ALL …. and you should feel that way too. congratulations to all my talented ass peers in the top ten this week. even number 3. ? and thank u to @billboard for this honor. and thank u to everybody who helped us raise a lot of money for a very important cause this week. love u all a lot.

A post shared by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) on May 18, 2020 at 12:40pm PDT

6ix9ine responded to Ariana with another video, explaining that his issue is not with her, but with Billboard. 

“I don’t want you to think that I am coming at you,” he said to Ariana. “Not saying that you’re not talented, not saying that you can’t sing. You are a beautiful singer. You just don’t understand my pain.”

WATCH:

 

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@arianagrande All I’m saying is I worked super hard to make it out of Brooklyn NY. I speak for the millions of kids who aren’t as fortunate as you. The millions who weren’t fortunate to be on T.V.. LIFE is REAL when you’re on welfare LIFE is REAL when you grow up with out a father. You don’t know what that is like. You say for me to be humble …. I don’t think you know what humble is………. YOU ARE VERY TALENTED AND BEAUTIFUL GOD BLESS YOU. But you will NEVER UNDERSTAND MY PAIN ?

A post shared by IM BACK AND THEY MAD (@6ix9ine) on May 18, 2020 at 1:37pm PDT

Justin Bieber also responded on IG, saying, “the rules are clear one credit card can buy max 4 copies.”

He continued, “Anything over that the entire amount gets thrown out. Nielsen company checks this and found all out sales were legit because (our) fans are amazing and bought them. Don’t discredit our fan base with false info.” 

Justin Bieber gets in the mix and responds to 6ix9ine pic.twitter.com/kmvLvR5BjM

— DJ Akademiks (@Akademiks) May 18, 2020

Ariana Grande and Scooter Braun respond to allegations of rigging the charts by purchasing 30k copies of her single to go #1 pic.twitter.com/Rik2En5vNw

— DJ Akademiks (@Akademiks) May 18, 2020

6ix9ine took to IG one more to post a picture of himself holding 6 credit cards along with the caption, “Don’t worry we going #1 next time.”

 

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Don’t worry we going #1 next time ? @billboard

A post shared by IM BACK AND THEY MAD (@6ix9ine) on May 18, 2020 at 4:53pm PDT

Billboard responded to Tekashi 6ix9ine’s accusation that the charts are rigged. Read the article debunking each of his claims here.

.@ArianaGrande and @justinbieber‘s #StuckWithU debuts at No. 1 on the #Hot100 chart. ? See the full Top 10 breakdown below. https://t.co/04v3WVbvHY

— billboard (@billboard) May 18, 2020

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