6ix9ine is officially a big Fefe deal…
Four years after it was first uploaded at the height of Tekashi mania, the 25-year-old Puerto Rican and Mexican-American artist’s candy-colored video for the Nicki Minaj-assisted single “FEFE” has crossed the 1 billion mark on YouTube.
The clip, which the rapper co-directed along with TrifeDrew and William Asher, first hit screens on July 22, 2018 and it’s the perfect encapsulation of the 6ix9ine aesthetic.
With a set exploding in the same rainbow hues the MC has rocked in his mouth and on his head, it finds him playing patty cake with Nicki while surrounded by giant dripping popsicles, cradling an adorable dog, licking on an ice cream cone and cavorting with a bevy of women in thong bikinis.
Minaj plays it cool over the song’s atypical-for-Tekashi languid beat, rapping, “He-he tryna 69 like Tekashi, call him papi/ Word to A$AP, keep me Rocky, I’m from New York, so I’m cocky/ Say he f—in’ with my posse, copped me Khloé like Kardashi’/ Keep this p–sy in Versace, said I’m pretty like Tinashe/ Put-put it all up in his face, did I catch a case?”
Minaj drops her lines while standing inside a provocative pink balloon cave and posing with supersoaker water guns, sharing a cone with her pal, parting his hair and admiring his bling.
The visual was a departure for the Brooklyn rapper born Daniel Hernandez who skyrocketed to fame in 2017 with his single “Gummo,” but whose career was cut short a year later when he was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and armed robbery; he pled guilty to 9 charges and was facing nearly 50 years in jail when he signed a plea deal in exchange for testifying against his fellow Nine Trey gang members. The rapper was sentenced to 2 years in prison and was released in spring 2020 to home confinement.
He released another collab with Minaj in June 2020, “Trollz,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by his TattleTales album; his most recent single, “Zaza,” dropped in February 2021.