But unlike hip-hop stars of the past, for whom gangs were a means of survival, Tekashi came to the rap game first and infiltrated a crew later.Born Daniel Hernandez, the tatted-up rapper grew up in a tiny Bushwick apartment on Locust Street near Broadway that he shared with his Mexican-immigrant mother and other family members. The self-proclaimed “King of New York” glorified drive-by shootings and the gangsta life in his lyrics. “Say I would get $250,000, they would give me like $185,000 and take the rest,” Tekashi testified.He suffered another indignity in March 2018 when his crew robbed a rival at gunpoint and then kicked Tekashi out of the car with the piece so they wouldn’t get “stitched up” if the cops pulled them over.Tekashi 6ix9ine was taken captive by his former Bloods gang.The rapper was miffed he was left in the lurch in a place where he was bound to be recognized.“I’m like bro, ‘I’m f–king famous at this point,’” he recalled saying when getting pushed out.
As The Post reported last July, a red “Bloods” Chevy Tahoe that was featured in Tekashi’s “Tati” music video had a pro-cop “thin blue line” sticker on the passenger side of the rear window.Eventually, peeved that the gang was taking too much of his earnings, Tekashi began pulling away in the summer of 2018. He went on a brief tour there and in other Eastern European countries in 2014, a stint that only netted him about $2,000, he said.Tekashi’s first run-in with a member of the Rikers Island-spawned Nine Trey crew didn’t happen until the summer of 2017, while he was working on his hit song “Gummo” and met hip-hopper Seqo Billy.Everyone in the video for the song wore red because “red is what a Blood member would wear,” Tekashi testified on Tuesday.Through Seqo Billy, Tekashi met his future manager Kifano Jordan, aka “Shotti,” who was sentenced to 15 years behind bars in September in connection with his role as a high-ranking member of the street gang.Tekashi began running with the gang, though he was never officially initiated.Despite repping the Bloods in his music, Tekashi 6ix9ine testified.There were holes in his image. Inspired by Japanese anime, he adopted the name Tekashi and then tagged on the suggestive “69,” a number he reportedly has tattooed on his body more than 200 times.At first, he says his genre was more “rock ’n’ roll rap” and most of his fans — or at least those watching his YouTube videos — were from Slovakia.
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