When Jay-Z said the villain should win, it can be assumed that this isn’t what he meant.
Despite nearly destroying the fabric that intertwines street culture and hip-hop, 6ix9ine somehow continues to grab the world’s attention. This led Showtime to produce a three-part docuseries about Daniel Hernandez in which he likens himself a superhero’s arch-nemesis.
“I feel my steppops was a superhero,” 6ix9ine said in an unreleased interview used in the series’s first episode. “He was always helping people without thinking about himself and that’s what a superhero did and that’s what my steppop did. Superheroes always die. Fuck being a superhero, I want to be a villain. Villains never die.”
Hernandez’s stepfather was killed in broad daylight during a trip to the store when the rapper was 13 years old. Instead of using this to fuel a life of good-rooted vigilante activity like Batman, he allowed the death of his paternal figure to turn him into the opposite.
“It’s like the Joker, you want to hate him, but you love him,” he continued. “He’s the bad guy but you end up falling in love with him. You consistently say, ‘I hate this guy,’ but you can’t stop watching. There’s somewhere deep down where you fall in love with that guy.”
Although it’s oxymoronic for a “villain” to also be the police, people continue to feed into 6ix9ine’s fantasy. This was on display when he sucked Lil Reese and 600Breezy into an Instagram Live argument after disrespecting the late King Von. He also baited Meek Mill into a parking lot exchange while recited Pooh Shiesty lyrics that don’t match his current, protected lifestyle.
Supervillain: The Making Of Tekashi 6ix9ine was directed by Karam Gill and is produced by Imagine Documentaries, Rolling Stone, and Lightbox. It’s based on Stephen Witt’s Rolling Stone article and premiered on Feb. 21.
