DUMMY BOY

Even with the help of rap royalty like Nicki and Kanye, Dummy Boy fails to propel his perceived artistry to another level. It’s a continuation of his unquenchable thirst for attention and notoriety, much like his social media persona.

Several of the beats are fun, and the guest verses provide a much needed spark of life. If your first language is, say, Russian or Chinese, then you might enjoy the musicality of some of 6ix9ine’s verses even though they blur together. Unfortunately, Dummy Boy is not improved with a knowledge of English, and indeed that might be an obstacle to enjoying the album.

There are no quotables to be found here; no multisyllabic rhyme schemes, piquant punchlines or elegiac tales of struggle; this is rudimentary rap, to be consumed loudly and disposed of quietly.

On his official full-length debut, Dummy Boy, troubled New York rapper 6ix9ine delivers much of the same exaggerated and empty content that assisted his speedy but controversial rise in the late 2010s.

Even listeners who blithely tune out 6ix9ine’s extra-musical controversies may find Dummy Boy rough-going.

Dummy Boy has a handful of highlights, but 6ix9ine barely shows up for many of the tracks, leaving them to be made or broken by the features.

Uninspired as it is, DUMMY BOY is an album that will have an impact and likely would have done more if he was around to promote it. Yet, it will be known as the moment Tekashi 6ix9ine realized that maybe the fame he’s tirelessly tried to achieve and sustain wasn’t worth it at all.

This is an overblown, cartoonish project that features a glut of high-profile artists who appear to do little but lend their names; ‘Dummy Boy’ is one of the most unlistenable rap records of this year.

His loathsomeness doesn’t spoil the album as much as his tepidness does. 6ix9ine trying to ruffle feathers is about as noteworthy as Professor Chaos trying to take over the world.

DUMMY BOY is an insufferable 13-track farrago of anything from rock riffs to calypso drums, all pinned by 6ix9ine’s obsessive use of the “n” word, along with every other negative trope found in the gangsta rap of the early Noughties.