Tekashi 6ix9ine testified in court about how he was abducted at gunpoint last summer amid a dispute between rival factions of the violent street gang Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.
The account was among the cache of damning details he’s disclosed about his time in Nine Trey over two days of testimony in the racketeering trial against two alleged gangbangers – Anthony ‘Harv’ Ellison and Aljermiah ‘Nuke’ Mack.
The 23-year-old rapper took the stand on Wednesday and said that after Ellison and another armed man forced him into a stolen car, they beat him and drove him to his Brooklyn home. He claimed they stole a bag of his jewelry before releasing him.
He detailed several other violent incidents involving Ellison and Mack, including a shooting in April 2018 with the gang of his rival, rapper Casanova.
Tekashi also explained how the gang orchestrated an attack on another rival rapper, Trippie Redd, at his request.
Tekashi 6ix9ine has unleashed a cache of damning details about his time with the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods over two days of testimony in the racketeering trial against two alleged former members – Anthony ‘Harv’ Ellison and Aljermiah ‘Nuke’ Mack. Taking the stand Wednesday, the rapper describedhow he was abducted at gunpoint last summer amid a dispute between rival factions of the violent street gang. He is seen in a court sketch from Tuesday
Tekashi – born Daniel Hernandez – is no stranger to court rooms, having been in the defendant seat on several occasions in recent years.
This week he’s taken on a new role as the star witness in the government’s racketeering case against two members of his old crew.
The trial in Manhattan federal court kicked off on Monday with Tekashi taking the stand on Tuesday and Wednesday.
He traded his usual loud outfits for a dark blue prison jumpsuit after the presiding judge issued a dress code.
During Wednesday’s testimony Tekashi explained how he bankrolled Nine Trey with his music and the gang repaid him in street credibility and hits on his rivals.
He said the gang’s leaders – including Ellison and Mack – would take a significant portion of the money he earned on stage and use it to buy guns and to ‘keep [gang members] happy’.
Asked what his former manager and Nine Trey kingpin Kifano ‘Shotti’ Jordan did with the money, Tekashi said: ‘At first I didn’t ask any questions. Shotti was like, feed the wolves, feed the homies, support them.’
Tekashi publicly distanced himself from the gang days before he and alleged fellow members were arrested in November 2017.
The rapper told the court that he cut a deal with prosecutors the day after his arrest, agreeing to testify against his former confidantes in exchange for avoiding a 47-year prison sentence.
Ellison and Mack have been described by prosecutors as high-ranking members of the gang that terrorized New York City streets with drug-dealing and gunfire.
Tekashi – born Daniel Hernandez – is no stranger to court rooms, having been in the defendant seat on several occasions in recent years. This week he’s taken on a new role as the star witness in the government’s racketeering case against two members of his old crew. Tekashi is seen above during a hearing in November 2018
Tekashi pleaded guilty in the racketeering case in February, admitting in court that he was a member of Nine Trey, a gang which he said engaged in ‘shooting at people, robbing people and, at times, drug trafficking’
On day three of the trial, Tekashi said his relationship with the Nine Treys began to sour in March 2018 when he booked a show in Austin, Texas, without clearing it with Rap-A-Lot Records, which considers the state to be its home turf.
He said Rap-A-Lot leaders retaliated by refusing to let him perform, causing him to lose out on around $15,000.
Tekashi said the lost revenue caused contention between his manager Jordan and his bodyguard Ellison because the latter called the former a ‘pussy’ for not standing up to Rap-A-Lot.
Tekashi ended up firing Ellison soon after, which prosecutors say led the defendant to carry out the alleged kidnapping.
The following month, Tekashi said, the Nine Treys decided to get revenge on Rap-A-Lot Records head James Prince when he visited the gang’s home turf in New York City.
Tekashi testified that Jordan and other gang members robbed Rap-A-Lot reps in the lobby of a building while the rapper waited in a car outside.
Prosecutors showed the jury a video of the robbery recorded by Tekashi, along with surveillance footage from the building.
The crew fled the scene of the robbery before Tekashi said Jordan got nervous and kicked him out of the car, forcing him to take the subway while he had a handgun in the hood of his sweatshirt.
Tekashi’s former manager and Nine Trey kingpin Kifano ‘Shotti’ Jordan (above) was sentenced to 15 years in prison earlier this month after pleading guilty to an April 2018 shooting spree
Tekashi also laid bare the bad blood between him and alleged rival gang member, rapper Trippie Redd, who he said was with the Five Nine Brims Bloods.
Tekashi said that he and Trippie were both signed by the same label and had collaborated on the track POLES1469 in 2017 but their personal relationship soon deteriorated.
‘There’s a lot of jealousy involved,’ he said. ‘[Trippie] was signed first. I later on signed, a couple months after. We had a song together, it was successful. Then jealousy, we got into online disputes.’
He said their rivalry turned violent after Trippie Redd’s manager reached out and said he wanted to ‘squash the beef’.
‘At the time I was very upset with him, he has already said a lot. I told Shotti I wanted something done about Trippie,’ Tekashi said, claiming that Jordan told him: ‘Say less, we’ll get on top of it.’
He said the gang went where Trippie was shooting a music video and then followed him back to his hotel, where they attacked Trippie while Tekashi sat in the car outside.
‘Shotti comes back screaming: “It’s f**king Trey Way, I love me n****rs, we got that n****r.’
Tekashi said that Ellison had punched Trippie in the mouth. After that, Tekashi welcomed Ellison into his entourage as his bodyguard, he said.
‘After the incident with Trippie Redd I saw that Harv was more of a doer. He’s a big guy. I gave him the enforcer job,’ Tekashi testified.
Tekashi claimed that Nine Trey members orchestrated an attack on his rival, rapper Trippie Redd (above), at his request. He said Trippie was a member of another Bloods gang
He said in another incident Ellison defended him against another gang member, ‘Snow’, who had called Tekashi a ‘rainbow head piece of s**t’.
One month after that confrontation, Snow was shot dead, Tekashi said.
The rapper was presented with photos and asked to identify several members of the gang, including Ellison, Mack and Jordan. He also named ‘Mel Murda’, Billy Ado and Seqo as Nine Trey members in his testimony.
Earlier this month, Jordan was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the April shooting spree.
Ellison is charged with kidnapping and robbing Tekashi in July 2018 and of assaulting a different Nine Trey member last fall.
Mack is charged with dealing heroin and MDMA.
Both defendants have denied the charges, and an attorney for Ellison branded the alleged kidnapping a publicity stunt.
Known almost as much for his tattooed, rainbow-haired look as for his music, Brooklyn-born Tekashi was a social media phenomenon before becoming an ascendant name in hip-hop
It’s unclear how much weight Tekashi’s testimony will have given his long rap sheet.
He is currently being housed in a federal facility for his own safety and has been escorted into the courthouse through a secure tunnel, flanked by US Marshals.
Prosecutors have previously suggested that he could be moved into witness protection after his testimony.
Known almost as much for his tattooed, rainbow-haired look as for his music, Brooklyn-born Tekashi was a social media phenomenon before becoming an ascendant name in hip-hop.
He has 15.5 million followers on Instagram and his album Day69: Graduation Day was among the top-sellers on iTunes following its February release.
Tekashi had a multiplatinum hit song, ‘Fefe,’ with Nicki Minaj, which peaked at number three on the pop charts, and ‘Stoopid,’ featuring the incarcerated rapper Bobby Shmurda.
His drive for success has been studded by a series of run-ins with the law believed to have increased his notoriety.
In May 2018 he pleaded guilty in Brooklyn to disorderly conduct in connection with a traffic stop.
In 2015, he was sentenced to probation for appearing in a video in which a 13-year-old girl performed a sex act on another man.
In court proceedings, Tekashi has suggested that his brash stunts and penchant for violence – including his involvement in Nine Trey – were all part of his effort to bolster his ‘bad boy’ public persona.