photo manipulation & text by nacrowe
i remember my cousin (an EXPERIENCED AUDIO ENGINEER) and i were recording this superbly TALENTEDBRONX RAPPER, whose name i wont mention, when i became aware of TEKASHI 69, thisBROOKLYN-born hispanic RAPPER who had recently blown up with the help of hisPOPULAR "GUMMO" music video. i remember being really CONFUSED about it all since our dude was pretty LOW-KEY, DISCRETE and UNASSUMING about his GANG AFFILIATIONS and even the PRISON TIME he served, instead being all about the current business at hand of WRITING the most CLEVER sh*t possible and performing it flawlessly during sessions. i'm talking SOPHISTICATED INTERNAL RHYME SCHEMES, OBSCURE CULINARY REFERENCES and GENERAL bending-of-the-english-language-to-his-will in the PROUDTRADITION of RAKIM, NAS, LIL WAYNE, early JAY-Z and the like. in my mind, TEKASHI 69 was the ANTI-POLAR opposite. his LYRICS were TRASH, his FLOW was LAUGHABLE, he looked like a COMPLETE CLOWN (literally) and seemingly had NO CHARISMA. the piece i was missing regarding his MASSIVE success was his PRETERNATURAL ability as a MARKETER, INFLUENCER and INTERNETTROLL via SOCIAL MEDIA, where being OUTRAGEOUS and CONTROVERSIAL is more IMPORTANT to gaining a following than being REMARKABLE or particularly GIFTED.
and those
CULTURAL RAMIFICATIONS and REAL-LIFE CONSEQUENCES of that DETERMINEDSOCIAL MEDIA-enabled CLOUT-CHASING PURSUIT DANIEL HERNANDEZ spearheaded with his TEKASHI 69 PERSONA is the focus of the recent 69: THE SAGA OF DANNY HERNANDEZ (HULU, 2020) documentary. in essence, he lost himself in the quite literal ALL-OUT PURSUIT of FAME and NOTORIETY. people forget that SOCIAL MEDIA is a fairly recent CULTURAL PHENOMENON and that SOCIAL SCIENTISTS and ACADEMICS are still in the early stages of understanding the LONG-TERMCONSEQUENCES of such. already we know that there is a systemwide bias towards what is known as ENRAGEMENT ENGAGEMENT, which is that CONTENT that is CONFRONTATIONAL, IMMORAL or MEAN-SPIRITED travels faster through the ecosystem than POSITIVE, SUPPORTIVE or WELL-INTENTIONED MATERIAL. the CHARACTER of TEKASHI 69 and its ASSOCIATEDVIOLENCE, MISOGYNY, OUTRAGEOUS PRESENTATION (face tats and rainbow hair), GANG-LIFE promotion and general EXTREME trolling behavior is almost consciously designed to increase the likelihood of cultivatingATTENTIONand thus going VIRAL.
and it worked.
the documentarian himself,
VIKRAM GANDHI, even at certain point considers and questions his own MOTIVATIONS and CULPABILITY in the making of this very film and whether in the end he is just further perpetuating this NEEDLESS cycle of ATTENTION that HERNANDEZ absolutely seeks out. i feel the same just writing about TEKASHI 69.
and the lengths he goes through for said ATTENTION from the jump was
EXTREME. wearing PROVOCATIVE, SELF-DESIGNED clothing with words like "HIV," "puss* EATER" and so on. making UNDERGROUND music videos in which he is constantly engaged in ORAL SEX (eventually he gets caught up in SCANDAL for when a PARTICIPANT of such comes out as UNDERAGE and he pleads no contest). after a collaboration with LIKE-MINDED RAPPERTRIPPIE RED results in a record deal, this court case comes back to bite him in the ass as most of his SUPPORTERS in the MUSIC INDUSTRY abandon and openly mock him. this is the moment he begins to associate himself with a REAL-LIFE GANGE in BROOKLYN, who see him as a POTENTIAL CASH COW and tolerate his presence. that AFFILIATION supercharges his CAREER but the POWER went to his head and he became involved in ACTUAL CRIMES, resulting in a federal case in which he immediately worked with the feds and successfully got nine FELLOWGANG MEMBERS behind bars. now the dude continues his CAREER with heavy security and is no doubt a WALKING PARIAH in the CULTURE and you wonder if it was all worth it. at the end you see him as a SOLITARY FIGURE with no REAL FRIENDS or ALLIES, as he used them all on his way to the top, including his FORMER GIRLFRIEND whom he routinely beat for perceived slights out of what can only be described as MANIC PARANOIA and by extension maintains no MEANINGFUL relationship with his own DAUGHTER.
and yet it all feels so
PREDICTABLE.
you can
BLAME the fact that he had no FATHER FIGURE and was raised dirt POOR with few REALISTIC OCCUPATIONAL PROSPECTS or EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES to better himself, but in the end this FIENDISHPURSUIT of CLOUTand ATTENTION at any cost was entirely his own decision. the DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM existed with all its FLAWS and he figured out the CHEAT CODE to gaining an ONLINE FOLLOWING, but to pursue such with the GUSTO that he did was again his own making. i dont feel any SYMPATHY for him. i dont think even HERNANDEZ considers himself a CAUTIONARY TALE. it is a PATHETICNARRATIVE that is still very much being playing out as we speak. the only thing i take from his example is that it showed the path of least resistance to a whole NEWGENERATION OF ARTISTS who no doubt are now aware of the RISKS and PITFALLS of being EXTREME and OUTRAGEOUS in the SHEERPURSUIT of CLOUT and NOTORIETY.
but is it worth it?
