Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber Respond to 6ix9ine Drama 

Rapper and producer, 6ix9ine, has been grabbing headlines for the past few days. Accusing two of the biggest pop stars in commercial music, Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande of chart manipulation, will do that for you. And now, the duo have finally responded to the rapper’s shocking claims. 

Following the official announcement of Bieber and Grande’s No. 1 chart ranking on the Billboard Hot 100, the pair took to social media to clear the air. Their song “Stuck with U”, which marks their first collaboration, has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Ariana Grande a record-breaker. The pop singer has joined Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey and Drake as the only artist in the world to have more than 3 songs debut at No. 1 on the chart. 

Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber took to Instagram to express their gratitude and then debunk all of 6ix9ine’s claims. In a post to her 186 million followers, Grande wrote: “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 even be here at all.” She goes on to emphasise her sincerity and love for music with the statement: “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.” 

Justin Bieber hopped on to his Instagram stories, tagging Grande and writing: “‘This is my song with Ariana Grande and I’m honoured to work with her to help raise money for a great cause. If you gonna say her name make sure you say mine because it’s our song.” In his various rants about the issue, 6ix9ine can be seen only quoting Ariana’s name as the artist on the song, never once mentioning Bieber or  in his blatant accusations of chart manipulation. 

Fans have been just as supportive of the artists’ statements as they have of their collaboration, lauding Ariana Grande’s reaction for being classy and elegant. Grande even cheekily ended her post by congratulating 6ix9ine on his No. 3 debut, saying: “Congratulations to all my talented ass peers in the top ten this week. Even number 3”. 

“Stuck with U” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with a total of 108,000 units sold in the tracking week. The track marks career-defining records for both Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. Grande becomes the first act in history to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100 for three consecutive years. Bieber, on the other hand, becomes the male artist with the most No.1 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart in history.