Wyclef Jean in an interview with Pigeons and Planes, describes his first encounter with Thug and how he came to learn about his secret passion for Haitian culture.
“My management gets the call and they’re like, ‘Yo, Jeffery’s trying to track you down, because there’s a track that he needs you on,’” Wyclef begins. “And he’s got everybody like, ‘Find Wyclef, find Wyclef.’ So I go down to Atlanta, and the first thing he’s playing me is his mixtape. And he’s like, ‘You’re one of my greatest inspirations.’ He shows me his tattoo, it says “Haiti.” He says, ‘Yo I named my daughter Haiti, my projects are named Haiti.’
He then told the interviewer exactly what he meant by that and it had everything to do with how Young Thug has taken it upon himself to learn everything he can about black culture.
“He reminded me of a modern Tupac, in a sense—in a revolutionary sense. I mean that by, alright, you might see a thug, but his connection to history seemed similar to what Pac understood, of like, “This is who the Black Panthers are. Read this book, read that book.” This kid understands. I sent him the Ghosts of Cité Soleil documentary. He must have seen it like 10, 15 times. He is like a sponge when it comes to history. He likes to absorb a lot of information, and actually wants to learn.”
Credit:
