Does Tekashi Matter?
“The street code” is the first thing that referenced in any discussion of the newly freed 24 year old rainbow-haired rapper Daniel Hernandez, known as Tekashi69. There is no actual written code of ethics that all street hardened hustlers, criminals, or recording artists adhere to but a general understanding that if you participate in unsavory or illegal activity that you will not cooperate with the legal establishment even if that meant not reporting adversaries. This must give the members of this club a feeling of brotherhood and also serve to protect a criminal enterprise from being infiltrated by police. This was the opposite of what Tekashi did where when obtained by the federal authorities, he quickly implicated many members of his gang which led to their convictions and lengthy jail terms and paving a road for him to be released relatively quickly. Tekashi’s defense is that his fellow gang members were plotting against him, stealing his money, and sleeping with his girlfriend and therefore his “snitching” was justified.
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Meek Mill recently said “I need to crush you for the culture.” A sentiment that is held by many hip hop artists with few that have come to Hernandez’s defense. What does Tekashi’s situation stand for? What I think Tekashi is trying to say is that if my fellow gangs members had not been plotting against me or stealing my money, I may or may not have told on them. What Meek Mill and many DJvlad interviewees have attested to is that “I will never snitch,” usually citing members of gangs that have done many years in prison under this ethic.
I think what this line of questioning misses is the bigger picture of living an ethical and good life. Let’s say Tekashi did not snitch. He did his time and everyone in the gang got less time. Is this good? Is it a good thing to have people perpetrating robberies, murders and drug dealing out on the street? Is it ok to do it for your “family?” Who gets hurt from these criminal exploits? I can guarantee you it isn’t “the man” or people living on the upper east side. I think it’s the very people who are supporting the hip hop culture. This is a complex question because often teens who join gangs do not have other avenues for growth. Maybe families that cannot give a stable environment or fathers that are missing, or friends that are cut from the same rough streets, but what’s worse is that what people are striving for is mostly the “get money” mentality. What I see in hip hop culture is creativity, the hustle, flexing, energy, the grind. What I don’t see much of in hip hop is what you’re going to do with the money, the learning, the achievement, the legacy, the virtue. Just because you make a ton a money does not make you successful. Maybe you made the money with dishonesty or will use it in a harmful way to others or the environment. I almost never hear discussions about this in hip hop or the media in general. I think it would do everyone good to take a look at themselves and see their deeper motivations and make clear definitions of their ethics and success. Take the time to delve deeper and maybe you realize Tekashi’s role in this may be more of a canary of which way hip hop wants to head.
