In the public’s eyes celebrities almost seem like gods who are too perfect to be real. However, celebrities are not invincible to the law. The most recent example of a celebrity in big trouble with the law is the rapper Takashi 6ix9ine.

He is facing 32 years to life in prison on charges of Racketeering. For those people who don’t know, Racketeering is when organized groups run illegal businesses, known as “rackets,” or when an organized crime ring uses legitimate organizations to embezzle funds. This is not the only charge–he is also facing charges of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit murder and drug distribution. All these charges are due to his involvement with a gang in New York known as Nine Trey Bloods. This isn’t the first legal trouble Takashi has had, however this is different because, if convicted, he will be spending in federal prison.

Takashi’s rapsheet goes all the way back to 2015, when he was charged with using a child for sexual performance where he got four years probation. In May 2018 Takashi was arrested for the use of an illegal license in New York, and in July later that year he was charged with assault on a minor after an altercation in a mall in Houston where he choked a 16-year-old boy. However the final straw was his relations with the Nine Trey Bloods.

Junior Madi Schmidt said she still likes Takashi’s music, despite his crimes.  

“I have mixed feelings about him going to prison. He’s an ugly dude but he had some good songs, like FEFE,” said junior Madi Schmidt.

Musically, 6ix9ine has dominated the United States billboard Top 50 with songs breaking the top 10 like Gotti, Kooda, and Billy. 6ix9ine is a part of a new wave of rap called mumble rappers who are rappers that have songs based off a good background while they “mumble rap” rather than have actually good music.

“I loved 6ix9ine back when he was making music on SoundCloud but now that he’s all mainstream his music just isn’t as good,” said junior Sophie Smith.

SoundCloud is a new music platform that has given many people the chance of making an image for themselves as it allows anyone to create music and post it on there website. 6ix9ine began his career on SoundCloud posting his first song called Gummo, which has a total of 98 million listens.

“I’m annoyed because this guy isn’t influential yet we are sitting here talking about him when there are more important matters and there are much better artists in the game right now,” said Physics teacher Joe Kochbeck.

In recent news, 6ix9ine released an album on Nov. 27 while he was incarcerated. The album called Dummy Boy surprised the rap community because it was just released after he was cut from his record deal with Universal music group. As well new evidence is arising that could allow 6ix9ine to be granted prohibition, however the evidence is being kept secret by his legal team. His trail has been continuously going on for over a month, since Sep. 4th.

However, Schmidt said she doesn’t believe that he’ll get probation.

“You want to  feel bad for the guy because he’s gonna be spending his whole life in prison but you can’t bend the rules just because you’re famous,” said Schmidt.