LA-based graphic artist ArtworkByRiko posted screenshots of a conversation turning down 6ix9ine and his offer of a collab.

Popular LA-based graphic designer ArtworkByRiko has leaked screenshots of a conversation with rapper 6ix9ine where the latter appeared to brag about his money after having his offer of a collaboration turned down.

In the screenshots, 6ix9ine appears to have approached Riko himself, saying: “Yo I fuck with the covers Ima need to TAP IN for my next project.”

Riko then turns 6ix9ine down, saying: “Na bru fuck off my page ion work with no rats.”

To this, 6ix9ine replies: “This rat got more MONEY than you Goofy.”

Riko’s statement could be a reference to 6ix9ine’s representation in his albums, where he is depicted on a rat trap eating a piece of cheese. The artwork, which was designed by Alex Solis, drew from the idea that while everyone was trying to ‘trap’ 6ix9ine, he was getting the ‘cheese.’

“The idea is that everyone’s calling him a rat or whatever,” Solis told Complex in an interview. “Everyone was trying to trap him. But in reality, he’s ended up getting the cheese.”

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“People think it’s a diss, but it really isn’t. It’s him taking this and embracing these people calling him names. He’s the one that’s going to end up eating the cheese without being trapped. That’s the overall message I feel like he was trying to push.” Solis added.

Not to be that person, but 6ix9ine recently claimed in court that he was “struggling to make ends meet” due to his involvement in a civil lawsuit concerning a 2018 robbery.

The rapper pled guilty to being part of an armed ambush against the plaintiffs with his Trey Nine Bloods members, mistakenly believing that the latter were part of J. Princes’ Rap-A-Lot Records.

Shortly after pleading guilty to the incident as part of a deal with the prosecution, 6ix9ine claimed that his career was suffering, resulting in financial losses.

“Right now, I am struggling to make ends meet,” he claimed. “I do not know if I will ever command the kind of advances I was paid before my arrest, and my career stalled.”

“I did receive large advances under the recording artist and merchandising agreements prior to my arrest,” he said. “However, I do not receive any royalties under those agreements either since my royalty accounts remain unrecouped.”

At the time, he also told the court that in case he received a negative verdict, he could go ‘bankrupt.’

“If the Court awards the compensatory damages and punitive damages sought by the Plaintiffs at this inquest, it will surely bankrupt me in a way from which I will never recover to the permanent detriment and hardship of the family members who rely upon me,” he said.

For more on this topic, follow the Hip Hop Observer.

Check out ArtworkByRiko’s conversation with 6ix9ine:

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