[HOST] Tekashi 6ix9ine’s “GUMMO” introduced him to the rap game as a brash rainbow headed
rapper who used trolling to gain traction.
And while the song was his first career success, it also seeded his downfall, according to
his own testimony during the trial of Anthony “Harv” Ellison in September 2019.
“GUMMO” is produced by Pi’erre Bourne and was essentially 6ix9ine’s debut single.
The track’s name may derive from the 1997 cult movie favorite, “Gummo,” which is
about a group of kids stuck in a town recently struck by a tornado.
6ix9ine opens the track shouting out the 9TreyBloodz - who are featured prominently throughout
the music video.
“Billy” refers to the 9Trey Bloodz, led by 6ix’s then unofficial manager, Kifano
“Shotti” Jordan who opens up 6ix9ine’s debut project, ‘Day69: Graduation Day’
with a monologue on “BILLY.”
6ix9ine had only met Shotti and the alleged
gang members in the “GUMMO” video on the day of the shoot.
One report says, quote.
Shotti was allegedly a member of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, a subset of the violent
prison gang founded at New York’s Rikers Island jail in 1993.
He produced the crowd of menacing young men in the video...
[HOST] But before “GUMMO,” 6ix9ine’s main desire was to go viral by any means necessary.
[6IX9INE] I don’t want to be a super hero I want to be like a villain.
The villains never die.
Super heroes always die. I'm a villain. Fuck being a super hero.
[HOST] And he did this by contorting himself into the violent gang member debuted in “GUMMO.”
6IX9INE: I would pray everyday while walking Tidus and be like God, please change my life...and
then Gummo came and life changed.
[HOST] Next on the track, 6ix sends shots at a friend of his former collaborator, Trippie
Redd.
Remember when you was in LA nigga,
K-B told you to take yo flag off, the nigga that you was talking about on the song, ‘yo
KB you’s a loser’ that nigga don’t run shit, he’s not from my set.
[HOST] In August, the Feds used these lyrics to show they quote.
refer, in part, to an ongoing dispute,.
On Tuesday, 6ix testified that he was behind a scuffle involving Trippie Redd and 9 Trey
gang members, supposedly saying quote.
I told Shotti I wanted something done about Trippie.
Shotti: "Say less," we'll get on top of it.
This was also around the time Genius confirmed that 6ix9ine had previously pleaded guilty
to use of a child in a sexual performance.
Next on the chorus, 6ix interpolates 21 Savage’s “Red Opps,” and SahBabii’s “Pull Up
With Ah Stick,” while referencing Tay-K’s “The Race.”
The final line of the chorus was originally intended as shot aimed at City Morgue’s
Sosmula - a former member of 6ix9ine’s “Scum Gang.”
The song’s producer Pi’erre Bourne famously denounced the record upon its release and
later shared with Genius that he was not cool with how it all went down.
PI’ERRE: I never wanted to have anything to do with that song just because of how they
went about releasing it.
It was very disrespectful.
[HOST] “Gummo” peaked at no.
12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and led the way for 6ix’s cultural onslaught of further
songs like “KOODA” and “FEFE” with Nicki Minaj - but it all came crashing down in
late November 2018 when he was arrested and charged.
If you’d like to learn more about “GUMMO,” check out the song page on Genius.com.
I’m Jacques Morel with Genius News, bringing you the meaning and the knowledge behind the
music. Peace!