A lot of headlines have emerged from Tekashi 69’s testimonies during his current trial, and one that stood out yesterday is that he supposedly identified Cardi B as a member of the Nine Treys gang, an allegation that Cardi denied. However, newly revealed court transcripts show that while Tekashi knew Cardi was a blood, he did not once specify that she was in the Nine Treys.
The transcripts were obtained by Complex, and the relevant section reads:
“Q. Now, you joined the Bloods specifically to advance your music career, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. You knew that was a way to gain attention?
A. No.
Q. You had never seen anybody join the Bloods and advance their music career before?
A. Not that I recall.
Q. You knew Cardi B was a blood, right?
A. Correct.
Q. You knew Cardi B had made music videos with Bloods members in the background of her, right?
A. Correct.
Q. You knew that before you started making these songs, right?
A. No, I didn’t pay attention.
Q. You didn’t know who Cardi B was before you joined the gang?
MR. LONGYEAR: Objection.
THE COURT: Overruled. He may answer.
A. I mean, I know — I knew who she was. I didn’t pay attention to her at the time.
Q. You knew she was successful?
A. Correct.”
The fact that Cardi used to be in a gang is not new information. Cardi herself previously confirmed that she was a member of the Bloods, saying in a 2018 GQ profile, “When I was 16 years old, I used to hang out with a lot of… Bloods. I used to pop off with my homies. And they’d say, ‘Yo, you really get it poppin’. You should come home. You should turn Blood.’ And I did. Yes, I did. And something that — it’s not like, oh, you leave. You don’t leave. Stripping. changed my life. When I was a stripper, I didn’t give a f*ck about gangs, because I was so focused on making money.”
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music.
