People have mixed feelings about Nicki Minaj working with 6ix9ine

Last night, Tekashi 6ix9ine dropped a new track, “FeFe”, featuring a guest appearance from Nicki Minaj. Like any release from 6ix9ine (real name Daniel Hernandez), “FeFe” was immediately met with controversy.

For those unfamiliar, Tekashi 6ix9ine has previously pleaded guilty to one felony count of Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance. This followed a series of videos the rapper uploaded to social media, which show a 13-year-old girl nude and engaged in a sex act with another party while Hernandez is present. As Jezebel reported, “the child engages in oral sexual intercourse with the separately charged defendant, while the defendant, Daniel Hernandez, stands behind the child making a thrusting motion with his pelvis and smacking her on her buttocks.”

6ix9ine’s career has not suffered as a consequence. In fact, he’s only grown in stature over the past year or two: his hit “Gummo” hit #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received an official remix featuring Offset, while his Day69 mixtape features Young Thug, Tory Lanez, Fetty Wap, and A Boogie wit da Hoodie. This has divided music fans: some find his continued acceptance in the music industry to be beyond the pale, while others are willing to dismiss this as a simple indiscretion and instead focus on the music.

Nicki Minaj’s guest feature on “FeFe” is perhaps 6ix9ine’s most high profile grab so far. Following its release, people took to social media to comment on the collaboration. While there were people who enjoyed the song, others voiced disappointment with Minaj for working with the rapper, with some asking whether her presence would amount to enabling him. Others simply commented on whether his use of colourful, childlike imagery in the “FeFe” video was necessarily the most appropriate choice given his history.

Some users argued that Minaj was not being held to the same standard as other artists who’ve collaborated with 6ix9ine – male peers like Fetty Wap, for example, were not being ‘cancelled’ for their decision to work with him. Either way, Minaj’s presence on “FeFe” suggests that there’s a lot more still to come from 6ix9ine, and that these questions aren’t going to go away any time soon.

The track arrives at a strange time for 6ix9ine. Last night, after shooting a music video, the rapper was in hospital after being robbed, TMZ report. Three robbers reportedly left with $750,000 in jewelry and up to $20,000 in cash. It follows shortly after 6ix9ine was arrested in Texas on charges related to an incident in which he allegedly choked a 16-year-old boy in a Houston mall.