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The rapper and star of Instagram, known as Tekashi 6ix9ine, has had several trouble with the forces of order and is no stranger to the audience rooms. But on Tuesday, wearing a navy blue suit in a federal court in Manhattan, he took on a new role: as a government witness, he testified against his former crew, the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.
On trial, two former confidants, including Anthony Ellison, who, according to prosecutors, belong to the Nine Trey gang. Mr. Ellison is accused of kidnapping 6ix9ine last year as part of an internal power struggle during his lucrative career.
Tuesday's testimony was a remarkable feat for sixty-nine year old Daniel Hernandez, who had spent his entire short career cultivating a mark of unrepentant public nuisance.
But in November, he abruptly changed course: 24 hours after being arrested and charged in a massive racketeering case against the Nine Trey gang, he reached an agreement with federal prosecutors to inflict reproach his crew.
Mr. Hernandez, who comes from Brooklyn, has become a viral celebrity for his extravagant personality, including his rainbow-dyed hair, tattoos on his face and his clothes adorned with obscenities.
On November 18, prosecutors racketeering and unsealed firearms charges against Mr. Hernandez, 23, and several other alleged members of the Nine Trey gang, including Mr. Ellison and Kifano Jordan, an alleged high-ranking member allegedly Director of Mr. Hernandez.
The next day, Mr. Hernandez reached an agreement with prosecutors, he said in court Tuesday.
Hernandez pleaded guilty in February to charges stemming from the racketeering case and later admitted to the court his membership of the gang from 2017 to 2018.
He spoke in more detail about his involvement in the gang on Tuesday.
"We have been involved in many crimes," he said. "Thefts, assaults, drugs."
At the time of his guilty plea, prosecutors announced their intention to press for Mr. Hernandez to be sentenced to a lesser sentence if his cooperation was successful.
The presence of Mr. Hernandez on the witness stand was not entirely unexpected: a few days before his arrest last November, he had trouble with the gang Nine Trey, following his abduction last summer to which Mr. Ellison is now charged.
At the time of the abduction, Mr. Hernandez's professional prospects were in conflict. While arguing with the Nine Trey gang over control of his career, Mr. Hernandez has director also encouraged him to cut ties with the gang completely.
Mr. Hernandez gave up the gang in November, but the separation came too late. A few days later, he was arrested by the federal authorities.
The case gave a rare glimpse of the rapid evolution of the rap business, where the mysterious arc of characters of Mr. Hernandez became the last edifying narrative of the genre. In the era of the Internet, a viral personality like Mr. Hernandez – with his large clientele and enthusiastic audience – was an attractive cash cow for a gang like Nine Trey, who offered him street credit that he did not own otherwise.
Mr. Hernandez suggested this point to the court, stating that his brazen stunts and gang tributes were all part of an act designed to reinforce his public image.
"That's what people liked," he said on Tuesday. "It was just a formula, a plan that I found that worked."
A first-generation American native of Brooklyn, Mr. Hernandez was a teenager when he began to invent a sensational alter ego: Tekashi 6ix9ine.
It has become a sensation on the net of the night, gaining popularity for streaming bizarre and offensive stunts and starting quarrels with other rappers and internet personalities on platforms like Instagram.
Mr. Hernandez then rotated for rap. Shortly after his first tour, he joined Mr. Jordan.
But the young rapper was almost immediately irrelevant, his lawyer said.
After joining the Nine Trey gang, Mr. Hernandez began advertising Mr. Jordan's "Treyway" call sign in video clips and streaming videos of the gang's antics, including an incident in which the crew boasted of a shooting.
Mr. Jordan, known as "Shotti", was also arrested in connection with the government case. He pleaded guilty to two gun charges earlier this year and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
That Mr. Hernandez can save one of the strange characters he has built is unclear. Prosecutors have indicated in the past that it may be necessary to incorporate it into the witness protection program.
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