Tekashi 6ix9ine is currently testifying in federal court. Here's a look inside the rise and fall of a hip-hop supervillain
’s troll prince, a master at sparking outrage and bottling it into a feverish popularity. It’s a playbook that’s been used before — 50 Cent, for example, dissed his way to rap’s throne in the early 2000s — but the speed at which 6ix9ine found himself with an audience of millions could only have happened in the smartphone era. You didn’t have to like him; you just had to have an opinion.
Danny’s biological father had abandoned the family when Danny was an infant. His mother, who was born in Mexico, told him that his adoptive Puerto Rican father was actually his biological dad, according to a radio interview Danny gave on. Danny eventually learned the truth about his stepfather, but it didn’t affect their relationship and Danny continued to describe himself as “half Puerto Rican, half Mexican.” They were close, and Danny referred to him, even afterward, as his “real” father.
In 2015, Danny’s girlfriend got pregnant. Having lost two fathers himself, Danny was determined to support his child. But living in an apartment with five other people, with no education and a minimum-wage job, he had few economic prospects. He needed to make a lot of money, quickly. He decided to become a rapper.
Danny explained his vision to Andrew. His rap handle was Tekashi69. The “Tekashi” part was inspired by Japanese anime, of which Danny was a big fan. Six-nine was more mysterious — it was the sex number, obviously, but in its interlocking yin-yang digits, Danny had found something deeper that he never fully explained.
The Unofficial Manager: Tekashi with Kifano Jordan, better known as “Shotti,” who is allegedly a made member of the Nine Trey Bloods, a prison gang. He would become a key figure in Tekashi’s life. Photo credit: Johnny Nunez/WireImage In the years following the incident, Danny made a variety of lame excuses. He claimed that he was only 17 at the time of the incident . He claimed that he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time . He said that he’d just met the girl and the other man in the video , and he claimed the girl had told him she was 19 .
Among the first to see Danny’s potential was Elliot Grainge, then 23, the CEO of 10K Projects, the independent label that had signed Trippie Redd. Grainge — tall, polite, English — hailed from a royal family of music management. His father, Lucian Grainge, the CEO of Universal Music Group, was the industry’s most powerful man. His uncle Nigel Grainge had signed Sinéad O’Connor to her first record deal; his cousin Nick Shymansky discovered Amy Winehouse.
The 6ix9ine identity, previously just provocative, was now radioactive. “Gummo” was released the same month the #MeToo movement emerged, and after decades of looking the other way, nobody, anywhere, was now willing to normalize a convicted underage sex abuser. He struggled to get radio airplay and TV appearances. Even in the historically more permissive world of music management, nobody wanted to work with Danny.
riend.” Shotti could not be reached for this story, but several people tell me he thinks of himself as a contemporary Suge Knight. Soon, Danny adopted a strident gangbanger image. He began yelling “Treyway” in Instagram posts — a nickname for Shotti’s business platform, but also likely a reference to the Nine Trey nation.
As his career progressed, his visual iconography became cartoon shorthand for an emerging demographic. On 4chan, a crudely drawn image quartered millennials into distinct generations: “Boomers” , “Bloomers” , “Doomers” and teenage “Zoomers,” also known as Generation Z. The last had rainbow hair and a forehead tattoo of a “69.” Online, 6ix9ine was the face of a generation.
Throughout 2017, as his musicianship was improving, Danny doubled down on his already daring social media strategy. This meant tattoos, lots of them: spiderwebs on his jaw, enormous “69”s on his neck, chest and stomach, and in a Gothic touch, the torture-porn icon Jigsaw, from thefranchise, on his right cheek. It also meant beef, tons and tons of beef, with anyone and everyone he could find, including 50 Cent, Chief Keef, YG, Ludacris, Casanova and the Game.
In the spring and summer of 2018, Danny was arrested three times, first for driving with a suspended license, then for assaulting a police officer, then in connection with an assault at a mall in Houston, where he’d allegedly choked a 16-year-old who’d taken his picture. The arrests violated the terms of the plea deal in his sex-tape case; he had also repeatedly failed his GED exam. In October, Danny made a request for clemency at his sentencing hearing.
An indictment soon followed: a task force consisting of the ATF, Homeland Security and the NYPD had been building a RICO case against Shotti and his crew for months. Shotti and four members of his crew were arrested — as was Daniel Hernandez. The arrests, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Michael Longyear, were prompted by a fear that Shotti and his crew would attempt to attack Danny in a public place, and the authorities would be unable to contain the situation.
Danny was brought to a federal jail in Brooklyn, according to his lawyer. There, his life was openly threatened by gang members. The guards at the prison immediately transferred him to a private facility in Queens. On November 26th, he was denied bail; he remains imprisoned today. The mandatory-minimum sentencing for the racketeering charges he faces is 32 years.
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