Tekashi 6ix9ine wants to fight over Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's 'Stuck With U'
The Billboard Hot 100 charts have become a point of contention for Tekashi 69. The recently incarcerated rapper dropped a video on Friday suggesting that Billboard could be manipulating its metrics in favor of artists they have either been paid to elevate or that they prefer, using Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's chart-topping collaboration "Stuck With U" as an example.
Tekashi released his first single since being released from federal prison titled "Gooba" on May 8, garnering the biggest 24-hour debut for a hip-hop video in YouTube history. So he was clearly disappointed when the pop track debuted at No. 1 against his No. 3.
"I'mma make this real quick because I'll be real disappointed is Billboard gets paid for #1's and somehow manipulates the charts," he says in the video. "I want the whole world to see this."
Grande shared a lengthy response on Instagram without naming Tekashi, thanking her fans for helping their song rise to the top of the chart and explaining she doesn't make music for the recognition.
"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," she wrote on Instagram. "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 motherf—ers and I thank god every day that I have them in my life."
Steve Granitz/WireImage; Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
She added, "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 hard-working women (and only the women for some reason.....), I ask u to take a moment to humble yourself."
A post shared by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) on May 18, 2020 at 12:40pm PDT
Bieber also shared his two cents in defense of Grande and the song they worked on together via his Instagram stories, correcting Tekashi's math."He says his streams don't count. Yes they do but he is counting his global streams and this is a domestic chart so only domestic streams count," Bieber wrote. "This is my song with Ariana Grande and I'm honored to work with her to help raise money for a great cause. If you gonna say her name make sure you say mine because it's our song."
🗣🗣🗣“if you’re gonna say her name make sure you say mine because it’s our song” MY BROTHER!!! 👏🏽👏🏽 nothing but FACTS pic.twitter.com/grKdzMOUKn
— Alfredo Flores (@AlfredoFlores) May 18, 2020
Tekashi later responded via Instagram stories where he tagged Grande and explained he has nothing against her and complimented her talent as a singer. He says his beef is with Billboard, as a kid who came from nothing.
Tekashi 69 responds to Ariana Grande pic.twitter.com/pMYgHnTRPo
— DJ Akademiks (@Akademiks) May 18, 2020
Billboard responded on Monday night to the allegations "in the interest of transparency," explaining how the Grande and Bieber track bested Tekashi's "Gooba." "Streaming numbers visible to the public on audio and video data platforms do not reflect the volume included in Billboard’s chart calculations," their post explains. "Neither do the stream counts that services make available to content owners (including 6ix9ine and his team) directly through a proprietary data feed or dashboard."
They add, "Counts for a video on its YouTube page are for global plays, and absent any other auditing filters mentioned above. Billboard counts only U.S.-based plays for its charts."
Billboard also goes on record to explain the forecast Tekashi uses as part of his evidence in his original Instagram video was not released by them. They do not distribute a Hot 100 ranking forecast to labels, management, or artists.
Tekashi's chart history has yet to be restored on its site.
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