6ix9ine

His mother came to the U.S. in 1988 to seek a better life and opportunities.

Hernandez played baseball and soccer throughout his youth and was allegedly assigned a scout for a major league team at 13 but his mother declined because she did not trust a stranger taking her son at a young age.

Hernandez and his older brother, Oscar Osiris (b. August 25, 1994), were raised in a church throughout their youth.

Hernandez sang during mass and was selected many times to read from the Bible.

His favorite passage was Psalm 121.

His elementary school, was Public School 59.

His middle school was Juan Morel Campos Secondary School.

His high school was 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.

Daniel Hernandez (born May 8, 1996), known professionally as 6ix9ine (stylized 6IX9INE and pronounced "six nine") and also as Tekashi69, 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, many tattoos, extensive history of legal issues, and publicized celebrity feuds.

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, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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's mother was not able to make enough money working to support her children.

She applied for welfare and there were many nights Hernandez and his brother went to bed without dinner.

Due to his mother's financial struggle, Hernandez and his brother wore used clothes and Hernandez had to share a bed with his mother.

Emotionally disturbed by the death of his stepfather, Hernandez would not shower or eat, losing a significant amount of weight as a result; he was given therapy and was hospitalized for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

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 at various jobs such as being a busboy and a delivery boy at a grocery store to help his mother financially.

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" 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.

In 2015, Hernandez pleaded guilty to a felony count of use of a child in a sexual performance and received a four-year probation period and a 1,000-hour community service order.

Hernandez became widely known in 2017 after his feature on Trippie Redd's "Poles 1469" and the release of his debut solo single, "Gummo", which was a sleeper hit.

He subsequently released the 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 charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Fefe" (with Nicki Minaj and Murda Beatz), the second single from his debut album Dummy Boy (2018), peaked at number three on the Hot 100.

Despite negative critical reception, Dummy Boy peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA.

In 2018, he was arrested on racketeering and other weapons and drug charges.

Facing a minimum of 47 years in prison, he pleaded guilty to nine charges including conspiracy to commit murder and armed robbery in February 2019.

During the trial, Hernandez testified for the prosecution against other Nine Trey gang members and was sentenced to two years in prison.

In April 2020, he was granted early release during the COVID-19 pandemic following fears over his vulnerability to the disease due to his asthma condition.

He was put on house arrest for the remainder of his term and was released in early August 2020.

Hernandez briefly maintained commercial success following his release from prison, as his singles "Gooba" and "Trollz" (with Nicki Minaj) debuted at number three and number one respectively on the Hot 100.

His second album, TattleTales (2020) debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, while 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 major hip hop figures and personalities have since condemned or ostracized Hernandez, leading to a severe decimation of his public image.