A US rapper was kidnapped, pistol-whipped, and robbed of nearly £600,000 as he returned from shooting a music video in Brooklyn.

Tekashi 6ix9ine, 22, was driving home when hooded thugs blocked in his car at around 4am.

The rainbow-haired rapper - real name Daniel Hernandez - was smacked with a pistol before being told he'd be shot if he failed to hand over cash and jewellery.

They drove him to his house to seaerch it for valuables - ransacking it in front of his ex-girlfriend and their daughter.

Two of the kidnappers looted his house, making off with £570,000 in jewellery and up to £15,0000 in cash, while the third guarded him in the car, TMZ reported.

The woman and child were reportedly not harmed.

6ix9ine was still in the car when the trio sped off, but he was able to climb out of the back door and hop into a stranger’s car at an intersection.

The stranger called 911 - then promptly ask the roughed-up rapper to get out of the car.

Tekashi was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he is currently undergoing tests including a CT scan.