STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Fat Joe Commits To Support Haiti and Shares His Theory On the County's Continued Struggles

The rap legend went on Instagram Live to give his take on the struggles facing the Caribbean nation.

While the country of Haiti is experiencing an explosion of gang violence and other debilitating issues, rap legend Fat Joe has pledged to help the country in any way he can.

Taking to Instagram Live on Saturday (March 23), Joe pleaded with his viewers to support the Caribbean nation as he theorized about why the country always seems to face devastating issues without substantial outside help from other countries.

“What’s going on right now in my mind is Haiti. And I been home just watching Haiti. And so to me, I got a feeling — just a conspiracy — that Haiti doesn’t get the help it deserves because it is the first freed Black nation,” Joe said. “Now I think they cursed them and said, ‘Oh y’all wanna be free? We're gonna curse you for life.’ Now France, after they left, they came back and put pressure on Haiti and said, ‘Yo, for us to leave, you gotta give us a half a billion dollars.”

“Said the money going to infrastructure, going to schools, going in everything. They gave the money back to France [and] that’s why they are in the situation,” he continued. “Then they got a lot of corruption themselves. So you gotta understand my best friend is Haitian, so I've been well-versed in Haiti matters.”

“But it’s just sad that it’s right next to Santo Domingo — an hour away on a plane flight — and the sh*t is happening,” he added. “The other thing that’s bothering me is that the Haitian people themselves that are going through the most problems, they telling people don’t come in here.”

Throughout his career, Joe has never been shy about using his platform to speak to issues that are important to him. Earlier this month, the Terror Squad founder met Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss ways to ease the penalties for marijuana use. Joe served as moderator during a closed-door discussion with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and individuals who received pardons for past convictions of marijuana use and possession.

In December, Joe shared his passion for prison reform which disproportionately affects Black and Brown people in the criminal justice system.

“I never knew that we would be here 50 years later and I never thought that I would be in a space like this talking about prison reform,” Joe told BET.com. "We’re giving back to our communities. As a young kid, I was just trying to make it out of a bad circumstance. Now, I’m thinking about how to improve our neighborhoods.”

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.