The Dude Tekashi 6ix9ine Swiped His Name From Is Suing To Distance Himself

Tekashi 6ix9ine is an unusual name, even by rap standards.  The 6ix9ine is self-explanatory but why Daniel Hernandez became Tekashi is somewhat mysterious.

Takashi Matsuba, a Japanese tattoo artist based in Brooklyn, says 6ix9ine swiped the name for him, and he has some pretty good proof.

In the Showtime documentary Supervillain: The Making of Tekashi 6ix9ine, 6ix9ine cops to getting his name from a tattoo artist named Takashi.

“There was this tattoo artist named Takashi from our neighborhood,” 6ix9ine says in the doc. “He was this heroin addict. He did heroin to create. He did it to get himself in his little world. He did it to be himself. And that’s where I got the name Tekashi from. And that’s who I am.”

In Hulu's documentary 69: The Saga of Danny Hernandez, they take it a step further and identify Matsuba by his full name and use his image.

Matsbua says he's never done heroin and is sick of 6ix9ine defaming him. He asked Hulu to remove his name and likeness. They didn't, so now he's suing the streaming service for damages, arguing that calling somebody who uses needles for a living a heroin addict is beyond the pale.