The director of an upcoming docuseries on Tekashi 6ix9ine says that the rainbow-haired rapper is “really a horrible human being” with no morals or talent – but a “social media genius” with a fantastic ability to “provoke a reaction”
“I think viewers will be shocked to realize how hyper calculated” the rapper is, “Supervillain” director Karam Gill said. “Tekashi was someone who never did anything online by accident. Every click, word and action online has been carefully designed to trigger a reaction. “
Gill told Page Six that at first he was reluctant to touch the project. “I actually never wanted to explore Tekashi’s story specifically and, in fact, I was hesitant about the project at first because of how he was such a toxic individual in our culture,” said the director. But, “from a broader scope, I realized that it is an extremely important story that illuminates where we are as a culture. We are living in the era of manufactured celebrity, where people can create inauthentic online personas and reach fame without any talent or morals. Tekashi’s story is just that – he is someone who realized the power of having his own platform. ”
Gill told us that when doing the series, “I was surprised to find how much of a social media genius [Tekashi] it really was. His understanding of how human beings operate on these platforms is incredible. “
Tekashi (real name Daniel Hernandez) was sentenced in 2018 to two years behind bars for extortion and other charges. When it was released last spring, he announced his return to music with a billboard in Times Square promoting a new single recorded in domestic confinement. The song, “GOOBA”, broke YouTube’s record for most watched hip-hop video in a 24-hour period.
On Sunday, a long-standing conflict between Tekashi and Philly’s rapper, Meek Mill, reportedly almost exploded in an Atlanta parking lot, and both parties posted a video of the incident from their perspectives.
The director also told us, prior to the last showdown with Meek Mill, about the public’s fascination with the outrageous online rapper and troll, “the public and the media hate him because he is really a horrible human being who has done terrible things. And from a general perspective, he loves to instigate and aggravate, which is something that causes a natural reaction. “
Gill did not meet Tekashi personally to make the documentation, based on a Rolling Stone article. “I never met or talked to him,” said Gill, whose credits include rap doc “Ice Cold”. “The interview we have in the film is for unpublished post-prison tapes that our largest production team acquired.”
Gill said that the themes in the documentation go beyond Tekashi.
“For me, this project was an opportunity to capture that moment in human history,” he said, “a time when we saw figures from pop culture, and even presidents, shaping their own realities and manipulating us through digital media. . ”
In the project trailer, Tekashi states: “If I died today, it would be a legend. I know that for sure. “
The three-part “Supervillain: The Making of Tekashi 6ix9ine” opens on February 21 on Showtime. Its executive producers include Brian Grazer of Imagine Documentaries, Gus Wenner of Rolling Stone and Jonathan Chinn and Simon Chinn of Lightbox.
The rapper’s representatives did not immediately comment.