TattleTales - 6ix9ine: Review
is a controversial New York based rapper who has capitalized off of trolling the status quo of hip hop and pop music culture for the last 5 years or so. After a stint in jail where he notoriously snitched on the Nine Trey gangsters who he was once affiliated with. Since then he has released a handful of viral singles including a #1 hit collab with Nicki Minaj leading up to TattleTales his second studio album.
Review By Lavender:
Most people don't make it past 6ix9ine's appearance and reputation, yet he has managed to consistently find success with his music. His combination of latin flavored trap music and hard-hitting rap bangers is a unique one that has translated into albums with highlights, but also major inconsistencies. With TattlesTales we see that it is no different as for every song here where 6ix9ine brings exciting there's one where it misses the mark.
The best group of songs on the album by far is the singles which may be the best set from any of 6ix9ine's projects yet. Gooba was the lead single and there is no way of avoiding the fact that I really enjoy the song. It goes hard as fuck and maintains that energy through numerous flow switch-ups and the pounding beat is perfect for 6ix9ine's performance. This is exactly the type of banger that put him on the map and he can still do it so well. Trollz was the records big hit single and another pretty good one. 6ix9ine is solid particularly on the verses but Nicki Minaj absolutely steals the show with a feature absolutely soaked in charm that rides the beat expertly.
Yaya is a latin trap banger that hits pretty hard. Even though this type of track isn't always my favorite from 6ix9ine but the beat here is infectious and the bars are as hostile as ever. Punani may be my least favorite of the singles it's honestly a still decent song. The hook is hilarious and hasn't become stale since the track came out even if the rest of the track is a typical 6ix9ine banger affair. These aren't the only highlights however as there's some deep cuts here that are pretty rewarding. Locked Up Pt. 2 is the opener and it features Akon serving up a killer hook. 6ix9ine changes pace on the verses here going into detail on the decisions he made and where they came from. I didn't think we would hear a track like this on the record but here we are and I enjoy it quite a bit. The other big highlight surprisingly is GTL a prison phone recording of 6ix9ine himself that I think is funny and decently well written. I love the beat the producers placed under the track and I think it's genuinely one of the better structured tracks here.
Charlie is a song I didn't see coming, mostly because of all the iconic things 6ix9ine has ever said "Ray Charles, I ain't ever seen a bitch I need" is absolutely up there. Unfortunately both the verses here are delivered bu featured rapper Smilez and he completely fails to match 6ix9ine's level of energy on the song. I wish he had handled the verses himself and tried to keep up the great energy of the hook. I have an almost identical issue with Nini a dancehall track that I admire as a switch up in sound. Once again I am much more interested in 6ix9ine on the track than the featured artist who has a verse and hook of his own but doesn't nearly live up to it. Leah features a second Akon feature but he doesn't give nearly as good a performance here as he did the first time around. The track is a club focused love song but it comes off so awkwardly. Akon made a career of this kind of track but he sounds totally disconnected from it here. The last of the features here comes from Lil AK, the alter-ego of DJ Akademics on the song Gata. The track is basically a greatest hits compilation of 6ix9ine's memes that bring back some of his more notable lyrical moments over the past few years. Even though the track is funny at points it doesn't really do much for me given that I had already experienced most of these in their original form.
Unfortunately this record also has it's fair share of forgettable moments. Tutu is a mostly sung latin flavored track with braggadocious and confrontational bars even without 6ix9ine screaming his brains out. The singing on the hook however is incredibly awkward and his charisma fails to shine through the thick layers of autotune on his voice. Wait isn't a terrible song but at under two minutes it fails to leave any kind of big impression especially considering there is more hook tham verse when it should be the other way around. Finally Ava is a decent lowkey trap song to close the record off and even though it isn't bold or new he does manage a decent flow and keep the songs tempo up for a forgettable but pleasant two minutes.
TattleTales is a decent record from 6ix9ine. He manages a few highlights across the tracklist without managing any truly terrible songs to pair. While he isn't doing much of anything new or advancing his blend of sounds here he once again manages to elevate the necessity of his presence in the hip hop world above just memes, even if only slightly. 5.5/10
