Tekashi 6ix9ine later addressed the more casual judge, saying his failure to submit to several drug tests was “just a misunderstanding, your honor.” He insisted he had never used drugs and that a drug test that found methamphetamines came from prescription drugs that contained traces of the substance.

At another point, he told Engelmayer: ”I’m not a piece of” before pausing, apparently to choose the right words, before saying: ”I’m not a bad person.”

The judge acknowledged there could be justification for some of his behavior but said he felt the rapper had “cut corners”.

After the hearing, the rapper’s attorney, Lance Lazzaro, said in an email that his client had been charged with three “technical violations” of his supervised release and that he was “confident that each count will be dismissed.”

The musician’s next hearing is scheduled for November 12.