Shawn Setaro - Complex Presents Dummy Boy - Tekashi 6ix9ine and The Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods

KEY MUSICAL RELEASES

Billy Dat by Seqo Billy (Tr3yway Entertainment, 2018)

Bodak Yellow by Cardi B (Atlantic/KSR, 2017)

Day69 by 6ix9ine (Scumgang Records/TenThousand Projects, 2018)

Dummy Boy by 6ix9ine (Create Music Group, 2018)

DWB (Dirty White Bitch) by Schlosser and DirtyBlack (self-released, 2015)

Dont Run by Casanova (2xentertainment, LLC, 2016)

For a Scammer by Pop Out Boyz (Pop Out Boyz Ent., 2016)

Gooba by 6ix9ine (Create Music Group, 2020)

Gotti by 6ix9ine (Scumgang Records/TenThousand Projects, 2018)

Gummo by 6ix9ine (Scumgang Records, 2017)

Keke by 6ix9ine f/Fetty Wap and A Boogie Wit da Hoodie (Scumgang Records/TenThousand Projects, 2018)

Kika by 6ix9ine f/Tory Lanez (Create Music Group, 2018)

Kooda by 6ix9ine (Scumgang Records/TenThousand Projects, 2018)

Love Scars by Trippie Redd (TenThousand Projects, 2017)

Mob Ties by Drake (Young Money/Cash Money Records, 2018)

Poles1469 by Trippie Redd f/6ix9ine (TenThousand Projects, 2017)

Red Barz by Cardi B and araabMUZIK (Genre Defying Entertainment LLC, 2017)

TattleTales by 6ix9ine (Create Music Group, 2020)

Trollz by 6ix9ine f/Nicki Minaj (Create Music Group, 2020)

All words, including curses and slurs, are spelled out in the manuscript below, rather than being starred out or redacted. This was done in order to not distract the reader with endless asterisks, and to give an accurate portrayal of what interview subjects, song lyrics, Instagram Live rants, and the like actually said.

For a complete list of sources, please visit

Kingstonimperial.com/DummyBoy.

This book began out of confusion. The Complex editorial team was trying to find new ways to cover the SoundCloud rap wave, and especially to write about artists who eschewed traditional press outlets and who had either committed or been accused of interpersonal abuses. Foremost among these artists, in the middle of 2018, was Tekashi 6ix9ine. His rise was rapid and inescapable. But there were also rumors swirling around about abuse in his past. There had to be a new way into the story.

How about looking at that Treyway guy? someone suggested. That was the beginning. I started trying to find out everything I could about the mysterious figure who appeared by Tekashis side at seemingly every moment. That led me down a huge rabbit hole.

And then, after several months, Tekashi, that Treyway guy, and a bunch of other people got arrested on federal racketeering charges. From the very first court hearing, I was there. It all culminated in an intense, surreal trial and an even more surreal sentencing hearing, featuring a surprise cameo from a person most folks had assumed was dead.

Much has been said, in text, via audio, and on camera, about Tekashi 6ix9ine. Ive written and said no shortage of it myself, in Complex, on the podcast Infamous: The Tekashi 6ix9ine Story, and in other documentaries. Dummy Boy is the culmination of all of my efforts. Everything Ive learned in years of reporting this storyall the interviews, all the court documents, all the side conversations, all the rabbit holes I fell intowent into this book. It gives the most complete picture of the story of Daniel Hernandez that weve seen so far. And I know, because Ive been involved in most of the others. Welcome to Dummy Boy.

R ap stars are supposed to celebrate their successes and hide their failures. But when youre a rapper whose whole life is about being notorious, about making people hate you, about getting attention whether good or bad? Thats not an option. All you can do is try to make your successes and your failures indistinguishable.

In the fall of 2020, Daniel Tekashi 6ix9ine Hernandez was, finally, a flop. He had wanted, predicted, needed a number 1 album, and he didnt get it. Not even close. His new album TattleTales debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It was a disappointment, especially for an artist who spent his whole career tying his sense of self-worth to the charts. Im ten for ten on the Billboard was his taglinehis first ten singles all made the Hot 100 singles chart. He was adamant that his previous album Dummy Boy, released days after his arrest on federal racketeering charges, was only denied its rightful top spot because of cheating by music industry insiders.

And now TattleTales was officially a failure, selling far less than projected. In article after article, terms like disappointing and underwhelming were used. In the face of such public misfortune, there was nothing left to do but make a joke of it. The artist videotaped himself in Williamsburg, Brooklyn glumly handing out burned CD copies of the project to anyone who would take it. And, soundtracked by the Five Stairsteps O-o-h Child (Ooh child, things are gonna get easier), he walked up to a wall with his own wheatpasted posters and began tearing them down. Both videos were posted on his Instagram account to his tens of millions of followers.