6ix9ine

Known by the alias Tekashi 6ix9ine, Brooklyn-born Daniel Hernandez delivers his frequently violent rhymes in a hyper-aggressive, full-throated style. Following an early release from incarceration, he channeled several of those difficult experiences into tracks for his 2020 second album Tattletales. Later singles arrived in the form of “Zaza” in 2021 and “Giné” in 2022. By 2023 he pivoted toward gentler, more melodic territory on his third full-length, the reggaeton-flavored and entirely Spanish-language Leyanda Viva.

Raised in Bushwick, the Scumgang affiliate first built an audience via SoundCloud before achieving mainstream success in 2017 once Elliott Grange secured him a Universal-distributed recording contract. Shortly after Hernandez entered a guilty plea to three felony counts of using a child in a sexual performance, his first widely released single “GUMMO” reached the Billboard Hot 100 and climbed as high as number 12. “KOODA” followed before year’s end, by which time he had already appeared on tracks alongside Yung Beef, Trippie Redd, and Mo Dollaz. The commercial mixtape DAY69 surfaced in early 2018 and opened at number four on the Billboard 200. That summer he joined Murda Beatz and Nicki Minaj on “Fefe,” which peaked inside the Hot 100’s Top Three. Late in the year, while facing sexual-assault, racketeering, and firearms charges, he issued his proper debut LP Dummy Boy; the set rose to number two on the Billboard 200 during his pretrial detention. A two-year prison term was handed down in February 2019, yet he was freed early in April 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic threatened his preexisting asthma. Remaining under house arrest for the balance of his sentence, he resumed releasing music almost immediately. The hard-edged single “Gooba” dropped on his 24th birthday in May and entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number three. The following month he returned with “Trollz,” a duet with Nicki Minaj. Both tracks appeared on the September 2020 follow-up Tattletales, which debuted inside the U.S. Top Ten and performed strongly internationally as well. In 2021 Hernandez aimed pointed remarks at Lil Durk and Meek Mill on “Zaza,” then issued the aggressive “Giné” the next year as a tie-in with the identically named energy drink.

Across the first half of 2023 he issued a string of singles that marked a move away from drill and toward tropical reggaeton textures. “Bori,” recorded with Lenier, and “Y Ahora,” recorded with Grupo Firme, ultimately appeared on the Spanish-language third album Leyanda Viva, released that June.