We’ve all faced difficult decisions in life. But few of us have ever wound up in such a troubling dilemma as the one in which Tekashi69 now finds himself. In case, you’re unfamiliar with what might be the strangest celebrity scandal of the year, here’s a brief rundown of the rapper’s current quandary. Back in November, Tekashi was arrested for a litany of crimes, most of which were related to his involvement with the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods gang. There was a time when it looked as though Tekashi would remain behind bars for the rest of his life . With the prospect of several decades behind bars looming before him, perhaps it’s not surprising that Tekashi — whose real name is Daniel Hernandez — decided to turn state’s witness and inform on his fellow Nine Treys. Over the course of three days of testimony in the trial of Aljermiah “Nuke” Mack and Anthony “Harv” Ellison, Tekashi snitched not only on the defendants, but also on several prominent figures in the hip hop community. Tekashi identified Cardi B as a member of the Nine Treys, and he told the court that rapper Jim Jones is such a high-ranking member of the organization that he’s able to order hits with impunity. The good news for Tekashi is that he’ll likely receive a much lighter sentence in his own trial as a result of his testimony. While he was once facing several decades behind bars, he’s now likely to be released as early as next year. The bad news, of course, is that Hernandez will now be a marked man for the rest of his days, and while the Federal Witness Protection Program has been known to work wonders, celebrities with facial tattoos tend to stand out in rural Arkansas. Already, Tekashi is being mercilessly dragged online with hip hop colleagues and former fans alike deriding him as a “rat” and a “snitch.” Of course, the internet vitriol is nothing compared to the danger that will come once Hernandez is released. Tekashi was already kidnapped by the Nine Treys once, and he testified that he believes he would have been murdered by the gang had he not been arrested first. “I knew I was going to become a target,” he said in court. “I knew they were going to try and hurt me.” Despite his eccentric appearance, it’s likely that Tekashi will be able to disappear if he cooperates with authorities. But it’s important to remember that Tekashi is only 23, and it’s unlikely that any other career field will offer him anything close to the lifestyle he enjoyed as a rapper. So despite the considerable risk involved, he may not want to disappear from the public eye. Hot 97 radio personality Miss Info points out that while Tekashi will be persona non grata in the hip hop community following his release, he’ll also be more famous than ever among the general public. And in 2019, that level of fame might mean that he’ll be able to earn a living as a public figure despite the fact that not he’ll be entirely on his own in an industry in which connections are everything. “In the attention economy, just knowing that 6ix9ine might open his mouth somewhere is like shipping platinum,” she recently told The New York Times. “But nobody with any of their own value will ever stand next to him. So he has to exist in a vacuum and can’t leave his house,” she adds. “All doable things for an artist in 2019 and beyond.” So it’s possible that Tekashi will be willing to literally risk it all in order to continue with his music career. No doubt the public will continue to regard him with rapt fascination — but all that attention might carry with it some profound consequences.
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Tekashi69: Will Witness Protection Help Him Escape the Nine Trey Bloods?
