6ix9ine

Daniel Hernandez (born May 8, 1996), known professionally as 6ix9ine (pronounced "six nine"), Tekashi69, or Tekashi 6ix9ine, is an American rapper. His music has been marked by an aggressive style of rapping, while his controversial public persona is characterized by his distinctive rainbow-colored hair, tattoos, legal problems, social media "trolling", and publicized celebrity feuds.

Hernandez first became known for his guest performance on Trippie Redd's 2017 single "Poles 1469", followed by the release of his debut single, "Gummo" that same year, which was a sleeper hit, peaking at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. The latter preceded his debut mixtape Day69 (2018), which was further supported by the singles "Kooda", "Keke" (with Fetty Wap and A Boogie wit da Hoodie), and "Gotti", all of which entered the Hot 100. "Fefe" (featuring Nicki Minaj and Murda Beatz), the second single from his debut album Dummy Boy (2018), peaked at number three on the chart. Despite negative critical reception, Dummy Boy peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

In 2015, Hernandez pleaded guilty to a felony count of use of a child in a sexual performance and was sentenced to a four-year probation period and a 1,000-hour community service order. In 2018, Hernandez, his manager Kifano "Shotti" Jordan, and 10 other members of the Nine Trey Gangsters faction of the United Blood Nation street gang were arrested and charged with racketeering and various felony crimes. Hernandez received a 2-year prison sentence in December 2019 after turning state's evidence against the gang and its members. In April 2020, he was put on house arrest for the remainder of his sentence and was released that August.

Hernandez briefly maintained commercial success following his release, with his 2020 singles "Gooba" and "Trollz" (with Nicki Minaj) peaking at number three and one on the Hot 100, respectively. His second album, TattleTales (2020), debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and his third album Leyenda Viva (2023)—his first reggaeton album—failed to make any worldwide chart impact. Due to his role as an informant in the Nine Trey Gangsters trial, several hip-hop figures and outlets condemned or ostracized Hernandez, who argued Hernandez associated with, provided financial compensation to, and committed crimes with gang members solely to gain street credibility and further his rap career, leading to lasting damage to his public image.

Daniel Hernandez was born on May 8, 1996, in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, to Natividad Perez-Hernandez, a factory worker and house cleaner from Atlixco, Puebla, Mexico, and Daniel Hernandez Sr., from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.

Hernandez and his older brother, Oscar Hernandez, were raised in a church throughout their youth. He went to elementary school at Public School 59. He went to middle school at Juan Morel Campos Secondary School. He went to high school at Legacy High School. He left high school around the tenth grade.

Hernandez did not know his father until he was 9 years old and had only a brief relationship with him. Hernandez's mother told him he was dead, according to Hernandez's father. Hernandez's father had a heroin addiction and was in prison for five years for selling drugs. Hernandez's stepfather, who also was Puerto Rican, was shot dead steps away from the family home in 2010. After the murder of his stepfather, Hernandez "spiraled into a deep depression", and would not shower or eat. Hernandez also started to act out due to his stepfather's death and was eventually expelled from school in the 8th grade for bad behavior. Rather than continuing his education, he started working various jobs such as being a busboy.

In September 2022, Hernandez became the goalkeeper of the Russian media football team GOATS.

At 18 years old, Hernandez had a daughter with ex-girlfriend Sara Molina. Hernandez has another daughter who was born November 19, 2018, with Marlayna M.

In 2023, Hernandez began a relationship with Dominican rapper and singer Yailin La Más Viral (Georgina Guillermo Díaz). She was previously involved with Hernandez's collaborator-turned-rival, Anuel AA. By September 2024, Yailin La Más Viral was reported to be Hernandez's ex-girlfriend.

On October 1, 2020, Hernandez was reportedly hospitalized after having an overdose from mixing two Hydroxycut diet pills with a McDonald's McCafé coffee, though his lawyer denies this claim.

Hernandez first decided to rap in 2012 after meeting Peter "Righteous P" Rodgers, CEO of New York record label Hikari-Ultra, when he came into the vegan bodega Hernandez was working at in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and asked if Hernandez rapped based on his appearance, stating that he thought he had the image of a rapper and suggested that he rap because of this, along with Hernandez' cadence.

Hernandez began releasing rap songs in 2014, starting with "69" (which inspired the shortened version of his full stage name) in August 2014, "Pimpin", in September 2014, and both "Who The Fuck is You" and "4769" in October 2014, the latter of which was his first collaboration as a lead artist featuring two rappers from the Brooklyn collective Pro Era, J.A.B. and Dirty Sanchez. Over the next three years, he released multiple tracks and videos with titles such as "Scumlife", "Shinigami" (named after the Japanese death god Shinigami from Death Note), "Yokai" and "Hellsing Station", drawing attention for his aggressive rapping style and use of anime as music video visuals. Many of his early songs were released by FCK THEM, a music label based in Slovakia. He adopted the stage name "Tekashi69"; "Tekashi" references Japanese anime, which he was a fan of, while "69" references both the 69 sex position and the yin-yang symbol.

Gathering fame as an internet meme for his rainbow-dyed hair, extensive tattoos, and rainbow-plated grills, he eventually became an associate of fellow New York rapper ZillaKami, the younger half-brother of Righteous P. They later feuded after Hernandez discovered Righteous P and ZillaKami were going to sign a record deal with Epic, in an attempt by ZillaKami to drop him due to a lack of control over Hernandez, alleged unpaid bail money, the surfacing of misconduct allegations against Hernandez, and a dispute over allegedly stolen instrumentals. Soon after Hernandez began working with Andrew Green a rapper known as TrifeDrew, again, who had previously worked with him on music videos to work on videos again along with music.

"Poles 1469", released in April 2017, featured Hernandez alongside Trippie Redd on YouTube.

Hernandez rose to prominence on social media due to a July 2017 Instagram post that went viral on both Reddit and Twitter. Hernandez's commercial debut single "Gummo" was released on November 10, 2017, and eventually peaked at number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was certified platinum by the RIAA on March 5, 2018. His next single, "Kooda", debuted at number 61 on the Hot 100 the week of December 23, 2017. On January 14, 2018, Hernandez released his third single, "Keke", with Fetty Wap and A Boogie wit da Hoodie, which also charted on the Hot 100.

"Gummo" was part of an effort from Hernandez and his management to rebrand Hernandez's image from the punk, rap-rock aesthetic he had cultivated, and a fanbase mostly in European countries such as Slovakia, towards a more gangster rap, American, and "urban" sound. Hernandez would state in a 2020 interview with The New York Times, "I was killing the European market. But when you're a kid from New York, you don't want to be the kid that is only being played in Slovakia. I want to go outside in New York and hear my music. I want to go to the club and hear my music blasting through those speakers. What's the point of doing something and you're not the best at doing it in your hometown?"

During the "Gummo" video shoot, which featured Hernandez rapping amidst members of the Nine Trey Gangster Bloods street gang, the rapper would meet Kifano "Shotti" Jordan, a known Nine Trey Gangsters member and founder of the record label "Tr3yway Entertainment". Shotti would become closely associated with Hernandez, becoming his manager and bodyguard, and introduced Hernandez to other Nine Trey Gangsters members. Hernandez and the Nine Trey Gangsters forged a partnership, with Hernandez receiving, in his words, "career, credibility, street credibility, videos, music, and protection" from the gang, while Hernandez financially compensated Shotti and the gang's members. The New York Times and Complex described Hernandez as a "cash cow" for the Bloods, and Hernandez would later describe himself in testimony as being extorted by the gang. Reflecting on this period, Jon Caramanica would write, "'Gummo' set in motion a parallel path for 6ix9ine. Within months, he was living two simultaneous lives — in public, one of the most vivid and promising new talents in hip-hop; in private, part of a gang that committed robberies, distributed drugs, shot at rivals and more." Throughout 2018, backed by his supposed gang affiliation, Hernandez engaged in numerous online feuds, "trolled" on social media, and generated controversies in order to increase record sales.

Shortly afterward, Hernandez announced his second mixtape, Day69. The mixtape was released on February 23, 2018, and debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 album chart with 55,000 album-equivalent units, of which 20,000 were pure sales. According to Jon Caramanica of The New York Times, the tape was an outgrowth of the "SoundCloud rap explosion" and was notable for its willingness to deviate from hip-hop's prevailing sound. After the release of Day69, two songs from the album, "Billy" and "Rondo" both debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Billy" peaking at number 50 and "Rondo" at number 73.

In October 2019, Hernandez signed a two-album contract for over $10 million with his label 10K Projects for one album in English and one album in Spanish.

In April 2020, Hernandez had to request permission from a judge to film a video in his backyard while in home confinement and was granted permission. On May 7, 2020, Hernandez announced he would be releasing a new single on May 8, 2020, marking his return to music and on his 24th birthday. The song, titled "Gooba", was released alongside a music video. According to Pitchfork's Madison Bloom, the track includes references to COVID-19 ("They sick, been hot, way before coronavirus") and Hernandez's cooperation with federal prosecutors and testimony ("Tell me how I ratted, came home to a big bag").

Hernandez announced after several delays his next single "Trollz", a collaboration with Nicki Minaj, which was released on June 12, 2020. The song debuted at the top of the Hot 100, marking 6ix9ine's first number-one single. "Trollz" fell to number 34 in its second week, breaking the record for the largest position drop from number one in the chart's history, however, the record was broken again later that year by Taylor Swift with "Willow". A third single, "Yaya", was released on July 3, 2020. It debuted at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 and dropped out of the charts the following week. A fourth single, "Punani", was released on August 2.

The songs are all included on his second studio album, TattleTales, which was released on September 4, 2020. After the release of the album Hernandez lamented the treatment he received from music platforms Spotify and Apple Music with them not displaying that he had released a new album on the main pages of their store fronts and not including him in their playlists which are highly influential on the charts, with him explaining that he views this as the music industry using these platforms' influence to damage him as a result of him cooperating. In November 2020, Hernandez was profiled in a Hulu true crime documentary film, 69: The Saga of Danny Hernandez. While archival footage of Hernandez is featured, he was not interviewed for the film.

On February 19, 2021, he returned with the track, "Zaza", notably throwing jabs at Lil Durk and Meek Mill, whom he has feuded with. The song debuted at number 90 on the Hot 100. Also in 2021, Wack 100 officially became his manager.

Hernandez's music is generally categorized as hip-hop, or more specifically, scream rap, hardcore hip-hop, SoundCloud rap, and punk rap, often incorporating elements of drill, heavy metal, hardcore punk, grime, crunk, trap music, and reggaeton. Some of his favorite musical artists include rappers and metalcore bands such as DMX, Tupac Shakur, Parkway Drive, All That Remains, the Notorious B.I.G., and 50 Cent.

In March 2018, Hernandez visited the Dominican Republic to shoot a music video. While there, Hernandez handed out $100 bills to residents in the area. In the midst of his feud with Chief Keef on June 12, 2018, Hernandez visited Chicago's South Side and gave food and cash handouts to local residents. On July 24, 2018, Hernandez announced that a percentage of proceeds from sales of his Nicki Minaj-assisted hit single "Fefe" would be donated to various youth programs in New York. A portion of the proceeds from their 2020 single, "Trollz", was donated to The Bail Project to support people arrested during the George Floyd protests. On October 22, 2018, Hernandez met and spent the day with Tati, an eight-year-old Brooklyn girl terminally ill with brain cancer whose wish was to meet him. Hernandez took her out for a shopping spree.

On February 10, 2019, a video surfaced of Hernandez in an anti-violence against women commercial for Romantic Depot, a New York-based sex shop and lingerie store chain. The commercial video was released on Valentine's Day and went viral on TMZ and other celebrity news sites. The start of the video states "In no way does Romantic Depot support Tekashi 6IX9INE's past activities", which include domestic violence and alleged sexual assault against his ex-girlfriend.

After returning from prison in 2020, Hernandez intended on donating $200,000 from the $2 million he had earned from "Gooba" to No Kid Hungry. However, No Kid Hungry's director of strategic communications stated that the organization was declining the donation, saying "We are grateful for Mr. Hernandez's generous offer to donate to No Kid Hungry but we have informed his representatives that we have declined this donation...As a child-focused campaign, it is our policy to decline funding from donors whose activities do not align with our mission and values." Hernandez responded on Instagram, saying "@nokidhungry rather take food out the mouth of these innocent children I never seen something so cruel".