Photo : Marco BERTORELLO / AFP ( Getty Images )

It’s been a big month for rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine; after all, it’s not every day that someone who’s still working to establish himself in the music game gets to drop major releases featuring Cardi B or Jim Jones, or have his contributions to the zeitgeist critiqued by established hands like Snoop Dogg. Sure, ideally all of this attention would have been centered on his music—and not his testimony in federal court against people he asserts are affiliated with violent kidnappers and murderers—but still: No such thing as bad press, right?


6ix9ine is now attempting to really put that usually-cited-by-assholes aphorism to the test, though, with TMZ reporting that he’s decided to forego witness protection in favor of holding on to his semi-established, weirdly alpha-numeric name. That’s somewhat troubling news, in so far as “snitches get stitches” is not just a fun rhyming turn of phrase that cross-stitch enthusiasts like to toss up on their walls, but also a general information policy adopted by a lot of people in the stitch-giving business.

Per TMZ, 6ix9ine will instead rely on 24/7 security to keep him safe, the sort of decision that has “future cautionary tale” stamped all over it. (It’s also kind of expensive, which really seems like he’s banking on the enduring good-will of the rap community to keep his post-testimony career—and also, uh, him— alive.)