For those of you who have been keeping up with the Tekashi 6ix9ine Infamous podcast, as hosted by Angie Martinez, it would appear that the ongoing tale has reached its conclusion. A rather open-ended one at that, given the fact that few can predict what might occur following his release from prison on August 2nd. In any case, the eighth and final episode has arrived, kicking off at the rapper’s widely publicized sentencing trial, which found him once again reunited with his estranged biological father.

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Given that 6ix9ine’s decision to cooperate with authorities has all but branded him a “snitch,” thus rendering him an enemy of the rap-game at large, it’s unclear as to whether he’ll be able to safely resume his career where it left off. Consider that during his volatile rise into breakout superstardom, the rainbow wonder made enemies of veterans and newcomers alike, even calling out the legendary Ludacris with a flagrantly disrespectful tone. Yet the majority of his fanbase might not care about street codes and long-respected gang dynamics, having gravitated toward 6ix9ine on the basis of antics alone. Will they remain loyal now that their seemingly fearless hero underwent such a public character shift?

Should you be interested in exploring such discussions in greater detail, check out the final episode of Infamous: The Tekashi 6ix9ine Story below. And sound off in the comments – how do you expect his return to the game to be received? Should he even attempt to revive his musical career, or should safety be his foremost priority? 

Previously on Complex and Spotify’s Infamous: The Tekashi 6ix9ine Story podcast… Angie Martinez narrated the story of how the rainbow-haired rapper ended up getting kidnapped by his fellow Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods member, Anthony “Harv” Ellison. The episode left off with Tekashi and his manager, Shotti, plotting an attack on Harv to get back at him. Little did they know, the feds were spying on their moves and were on the verge of gathering enough evidence to take down Nine Trey. 

In Episode 7 of Infamous, titled “That’s What Rats Do”, it’s detailed how Tekashi cooperated with the feds in order to reduce his sentence and gain revenge over those who wronged him. After members of the gang first started being taken into custody, it wasn’t known that Tekashi would serve as a prime snitch in the case. However, suspicions arose when he was the only one brought out separately from the rest of his co-defendants when their indictments were being handed out. Initially, this exception was imagined to possibly be a result of his celebrity status. Soon, the world would discover that Tekashi was spilling all the beans to benefit himself. 

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All the charges Tekashi was facing should have amounted to a 47-year sentence, yet reports are now saying he could be released from prison as soon as August 2020. How did this happen? Well, he quickly plead guilty to racketeering and firearm offenses. The public became more convinced that Tekashi was ratting as the list of defendants in the federal case got longer, eventually implicating a dozen Nine Trey members. One theory for his willingness to cooperate were that he was looking for a ticket to escape the gang, which would be easy if most of its members were locked up. It was also suspected that he turned on Shotti because Tekashi thought his manager was stealing from him. Shotti was initially one of the only members refusing to plead guilty. Once he did, he still refused to snitch. 

The episode goes on to discuss the two other cooperating witnesses in the case that helped sentence so many Nine Trey members. 

Previously on Complex and Spotify’s Infamous: The Tekashi 6ix9ine Story podcast… Angie Martinez narrated how the FBI surveilled the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods and eventually took down many of its members, including Tekashi himself. On this week’s episode, titled “Heavy Is The Head”, we “look at the split inside Nine Trey itself.” 

The primary riff that the episode tracks is that between two Nine Trey members, Kifano “Shotti” Jordan and Anthony “Harv” Ellison, who both wished to benefit off of Tekashi’s rising career. Once the godfather of the gang decided that Shotti would handle the rainbow-haired rapper’s affairs, Harv became resentful. The tension between Shotti and Harv ultimately led to Harv kidnapping Tekashi. 

Not long after the incident, Tekashi went on Angie Martinez’s Power 105.1 radio show to discuss his kidnapping. At the time, he didn’t mention that Harv was the one who conducted it, even though he was well aware of this. As revealed in court, during the abduction, Harv had pressured Tekashi into relinquishing his status as a Nine Trey member. Harv disapproved of how the social media star had dodged the traditional initiation process and managed to obtain a relatively high status within the gang. He ended up handing over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry to satisfy Harv before fleeing to a hospital. Tekashi and Shotti planned to put a hit on Harv, but little did they know that the feds were right on their tails at this point. Find out what happened by listening to the full episode below. 

Previously on Complex and Spotify’s Infamous: The Tekashi 6ix9ine Story podcast… Angie Martinez chronicled the many beefs Tekashi incited throughout his brief career. Once Tekashi recruited Nine Trey gang member Shotti as his manager, he felt emboldened to start up with anyone and everyone in an attempt to gain viral attention. 

Episode 5 of the podcast, which is titled “The Money Don’t Get Wet”, dives into the trolling that ultimately put Tekashi behind bars and sent Nine Trey into shambles. It started with the rainbow-haired rapper refusing to pay proper respect to Rap-A-Lot Records founder James Prince and his sons upon visiting Texas, as is customary in the rap game. J Prince Jr., James Prince’s son, then took it upon himself to publicly clown Tekashi. This snowballed into Tekashi targeting another Rap-A-Lot affiliate, Scum Lord Dizzy. Tekashi filmed (from a safe distance) Shotti robbing Dizzy of his backpack in Manhattan, which produced a viral video after being posted by DJ Akademiks. This backpack and the social media evidence of the robbery would later end up playing a central role in the FBI’s take-down of Tekashi and the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. 

Listen to the episode below to find out how it all unfolded. 

Previously on Complex and Spotify’s Infamous: The Tekashi 6ix9ine Story podcast… Angie Martinez narrated the beginning of Tekashi and Shotti’s relationship. Shotti served as the rapper’s manager, but also his ticket into Nine Trey Gangster Bloods and his safety-net when getting into trouble. Shotti’s support could be seen as a major impetus in emboldening Tekashi to start beef with other rappers for attention. 

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Episode 4 of the Infamous podcast is titled “The Tekashi 6ix9ine Show”, likely referring to how his insatiable thirst for viral fame drove him to make a spectacle of himself. This episodes dives into one of Tekashi’s most famous acts: his beef with Chief Keef and his cousin Tadoe. It details how it all started with Tadoe getting ticked off about a flirtatious video of his then-girlfriend, Cuban Doll, and the rainbow-haired menace. Things then escalated when Tekashi retaliated to the Chicago rappers’ threats by flying out one of Chief Keef’s baby mamas to NYC for a shopping spree. The fact that the woman exposed Keef on IG for not adequately supporting his kids and was getting pampered courtesy of Nine Trey made Tekashi’s chess move a doozy. As Martinez said, “this is what makes Tekashi 6ix9ine stand out as a troll. He isn’t just calling Chief Keef and Tadoe out on songs, hes orchestrating an entire drama.”

Listen to the full episode below if you wish to be well-versed in the history of Tekashi beefs. 

Another week, another episode of Spotify and Complex’s Infamous: The Tekashi 6ix9ine Story, as hosted by Angie Martinez. This time, his partnership with the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods is the focus. After nursing gang aspirations for years, in a twist of fate, 6ix9ine found himself crossing paths with the gang on the set of “GUMMO.” As the single wasn’t garnering the young rapper any cash, 6ix9ine turned to crime to pay the bills. Martinez details how he “acted as the middleman to a heroin deal” for some of his newfound Nine Trey affiliates. When “GUMMO” went viral, however, 6ix9ine soon found the money rolling in. Given his newfound fortune, Nine Trey saw an opportunity to strike up a mutually beneficial partnership — at least in theory. 

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Thanks to the testimony of New Jersey gang cop Edwin Santana, listeners are granted deeper insight into the process of joining Nine Trey. Apparently, one requires a “sponsor” to join the ranks, with Shotti acting as young Tekashi’s. Martinez reasons that 6ix9ine was already on the right path without the gang’s involvement, but he simply couldn’t help himself. Emboldened by Shotti’s endorsement, 6ix9ine found himself all but begging for smoke. It was a decision that would seal his fate down the line, with Judge Englemeyer reasoning that the “fateful decisions you made later to join the gang” played a role in his sentencing.

Still, the impact Nine Trey had on his image and attitude was staggering. Gang-specific slang like “Billys” and “shoot your thirty-one” quickly folded into his lexicon. With hardened gangsters at his back, 6ix9ine found himself at the center of several violent crimes, including an arranged hit on his enemy Chief Keef. As his notoriety and popularity grew, so too did the Feds interest in Nine Trey. As the law was plotting the extensive RICO case that would have major consequences on the entire operation, the bond between Shotti and 6ix9ine was growing. Cigar Talk host Naji Grampus broke down the dynamic as follows:

I think when Tekashi and Shotti met each other it was just kind of like any big homie-little homie situation in the neighborhood. There’s always the OGs kind of look out for the young kids, and that’s sort of where it was and where it stemmed from, but I think once he was able to see an opportunity to where Tekashi had an ability to actually monetize what he was doing, I think that took their relationship to another level. 

For more deep-dive information on the long and complicated tale of the Rainbow Wonder, better known as Tekashi 6ix9ine, check out episode three of Infamous below. 

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. 

The rise and fall of Tekashi 6ix9ine might be one of the greatest cautionary tales in social media culture in recent times. The rapper skyrocketed to fame in a matter of weeks. Within six months, he was the self-described “hottest artist in the world” with co-signs from artists like Kanye West and Nicki Minaj, as well as several Billboard-charting records to his name that hit the top 40.

Now that the rapper’s trial has ended and he was officially sentenced to 24 months behind bars with time serves, Spotify and Complex have teamed up to release their new trailer for Infamous: The Tekashi 6ix9ine Story podcast. Sharing the trailer, Angie Martinez narrates his rise to stardom from Danny Hernandez, deli meat clerk to the federal case involving the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. The podcast will include exclusive interviews and an in-depth look into his life from some people that knew him or had some sort of involvement with him. 

In related news, the rapper recently had his request to do the rest of his bid in home confinement denied. After taking the stand, the rapper compromised his own safety and asked the judge if he can finish the remainder of his sentence in home confinement. Due to the severity of his crimes, the judge made it clear that 6ix9ine will remain in jail.

Peep the trailer for Infamous: The Tekashi 6ix9ine story below.