Courthouse Rap: From Tekashi 6ix9ine to Kay Flock

In outlaw music there is always the question of authenticity. Daniel Hernandez became Tekashi 6ix9ine and hooked up with the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods to shoot a video. Then he became their cash cow, and some of them became his muscle, shoot-out in a Barclay's Center hallway.

They turned on Tekashi and he became a cooperator against them, returning to SDNY on violations of supervised release then back out on the concert tour.

For drill rapper Kay Flock it was different. He really was from Sev Side, 187th Street. He wasn't an appendage to his group: he was central to it. When with seven he was indicted, he did not cooperate. He took it to trial.

Inner City Press covered both cases. While the Tekashi 6ix9ine trial was covered by other journalists, there was only one media in the courtroom for US versus Kay Flock, born as Kevin Perez. His mother came each day, and three dozen supporters from the neighborhood.

The author knows, or knew, the neighborhood well, having lived there for years: first car on Beaumont Avenue, first storefront on Courtlandt then Washington Avenues. Now after a stint at the UN ending in UN gangsters ousting, covering the SDNY courthouse for these trials. This book starts with the just-completed Kay Flock trial, then compares it to Tekashi 6ix9ine. Should music be on trial? Should authenticity?