"Infamous: The Tekashi 6ix9ine Story" Premiere Highlights Traumatic Origins

Let Angie Martinez be your guide. Today, the first episode of Infamous: The Tekashi 6ix9ine Story has hit Spotify, providing a thorough deep dive into the Rainbow Wonder’s tumultuous journey. Painting the young rapper as a “kid from Brooklyn trying to make it by any means necessary,” the episode begins in medias res with his second Breakfast Club interview. An interview many see as the beginning of the end. And yet, despite having fired his entire team the day before, he still considered himself to be the “King Of New York.” Brazen enough to call out his entire team, a team made up of Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, live on the airwaves.

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Effectively pieced together through well-structured clips, Martinez breaks down the narrative with experienced authority. She reminds the masses that two days after the fateful Breakfast Club interview, Teskahi was arrested on RICO charges, effectively ending his volatile momentum. And while his transition from chart-topper to informant will likely be covered at length, the episode effectively begins by detailing his “scrappy origin.” Describing a quiet Bushwick come-up, the local tattoo artist responsible for Tekashi’s first 6ix9ine ink describes the neighborhood as essentially abandoned. 

“I had heard a lot of stories about how his life was challenging from early on,” says Martinez. “That his stomach would hurt from being so hungry. He’d wear sneakers his mom wore in the garbage.” She explains that Hernandez got vulnerable with her during an interview, where he said his biological father was murdered at the age of 13. “I was really dying,” said 6ix9ine. “I wasn’t eating. I didn’t shower for two months. I would eat Mike & Ikes and drink bottles of water.” Angie Martinez proceeds to wonder if further mental health care would have prevented 6ix9ine from his own self-destruction, especially given the untreated trauma experienced at a young age.

For more deep dive into the sordid tale, be sure to check out the full episode below, as presented by Spotify and Complex.