10K Projects' Elliot Grainge Defends Giving 6ix9ine a New Deal: 'I Wouldn't Be Doing a Good Job as a Human'

When 6ix9ine is finally released from federal prison, he'll walk right back into the music industry with a new deal from 10K Projects. The label's founder/CEO, Elliot Grainge, defended giving 6ix9ine another opportunity in an interview with Variety published Wednesday (Dec. 4).

"Knowing him like I do, since he was [called] Daniel Hernandez, I wouldn’t be doing a good job as a human, let alone a label head, if I didn’t try to help him," Grainge asserted, but doesn't believe this is truly a "second chance." "I’m not giving 6ix9ine a second chance, just an opportunity. The rest is up to him. The artist himself has to make those choices.”

Even with his checkered past, Grainge believes the polarizing 6ix9ine is a bright kid who just made mistakes as to who he surrounded himself with. "Tekashi knows how to get under people’s skin," he added. "He is an addictive, charismatic human being -- and very intelligent, but he made some unfortunate choices in regard to the people he surrounded himself with."

6ix9ine is set to learn his fate and be sentenced on Dec. 18. As part of his new contract with 10K, he'll be on the hook for a pair of albums, but could net himself in excess of $10 million if he holds up his end of the deal.