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Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber refute rapper 6ix9ine's allegation of chart-manipulation

Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's quarantine-themed charity single, "Stuck With U," debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. However, not everyone is celebrating the song's success. Rapper Daniel Hernandez, known professionally as 6ix9ine, has accused the duo and Billboard of fraud.

Chelsea Kiew (The Straits Times/Asia News Network)
Tue, May 19, 2020

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Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber refute rapper 6ix9ine's allegation of chart-manipulation Ariana Grande at the 2016 American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 20, 2016. (REUTERS/File Photo/Mario Anzuoni)

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a href="/life/2020/05/09/ariana-grande-justin-bieber-drop-track-for-covid-charity.html" target="_blank">Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's quarantine-themed charity single, "Stuck With U," debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

However, not everyone is celebrating the song's success. Rapper Daniel Hernandez, known professionally as 6ix9ine, has accused the duo and Billboard of fraud.

The 24-year-old rapper posted a video on Instagram on May 19, accusing Billboard of cheating, and Bieber and Grande of buying their No. 1 spot. He told his followers: "It's all manipulated. It's all fabricated. You can buy #1s. This is what these artists do. And it's not fair."

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

@billboard YOU’RE A LIE AND CORRUPT. YOU GOT CAUGHT CHEATING AND THE WORLD WILL KNOW.

A post shared by IM BACK AND THEY MAD (@6ix9ine) on

"Gooba," 6ix9ine's song, is trailing behind "Stuck With U" in third place on the charts. It is his first single since his release from prison on April 2.

Grande has responded on Instagram: "Anyone who knows me or has followed me for a while knows that numbers aren't the driving force in anything I do. My fans bought the song. Justin's fans bought the song. Our fans bought this song."

She was also angry with the rapper for singling her out over Bieber, saying he was discrediting "hardworking women".

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

thank u to everybody who supported this song, this cause and made this happen. we love uuuuu so much. 🤍 there’s so much to celebrate today. 🤍 however, i would like to say a few things. anyone who knows me or has followed me for a while knows that numbers aren’t the driving force in anything i do. i’m grateful to sing. grateful to have people who want to listen. grateful to even be here at all. i didn’t have a number one for the first five years of my career and it didn’t upset me at all because from the bottom of my heart, music is everything to me. my fans are everything to me. i promise i couldn’t ask for another fucking thing. so with this celebration today, 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. 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 motherfuckers and i thank god every day that i have them in my life. not just when they fight for us to win (even when i ask them not to as i did this week) but because they’re some of the greatest people i know. 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 hardworking women (and only the women for some reason.....), i ask u to take a moment to humble yourself. be grateful you’re even here. that people want to listen to u at all. it’s a blessed position to be in. i’ve had a lot of “almost number ones” in my career and i never said a goddamn thing because I FEEL GRATEFUL TO EVEN BE HERE. TO WANT TO BE HEARD AT ALL .... and you should feel that way too. congratulations to all my talented ass peers in the top ten this week. even number 3. 🥰 and thank u to @billboard for this honor. and thank u to everybody who helped us raise a lot of money for a very important cause this week. love u all a lot.

A post shared by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) on

Bieber defended their achievement in his Instagram story. "All our sales were legit because our fans are amazing and bought them. Don't discredit our fan base with false info."

He also spoke out against 6ix9ine singling out Grande: "This is my song with Ariana Grande, and I'm honored to work with her... If you gonna say her name make sure you say mine because it's our song."


This article appeared on The Straits Times newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
 

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