Haitian Jack was the most feared man in the music industry. Jack, AKA Jacques Agnant, was born in Haiti to a family of privileged politicians. They were highly educated professionals. His older siblings attended medical schools and universities in the United States. His family attended parties at ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier’s mansion. After the coup, his family fled to Brooklyn, New York with limited funds and connections. Jack, speaking only French, was placed in a tough, local public school and forced to fight on a daily basis. He became one of the toughest street thugs in the history of Brooklyn, New York.
Jack began committing burglaries during his teen years. He specialized in drug dealers’ apartments. Jack formed a gang known as the Black Mafia. He recruited the toughest street robbers in the borough. His posse consisted of thugs such as, Tut, Nubs, Stretch, and other sociopaths, all looking to cash in on the drug economy. His crew was so feared; they could walk down the lines of New York’s hottest night clubs and take every drug dealer’s Rolex and wallet without as much as a peep. Jack began befriending such people as Mike Tyson and some local professional ball players. He used his charm to get into their pockets and when that failed, he produced a firearm. He invented the ‘friendly’ extortion game in the Black community. He is said to be the only man Mike Tyson ever feared.
In the early 1990′s, rap music could be heard on every comer of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn -a neighborhood so bad, the local residents coined the saying ‘Bed-Stuy Do or Die.’ Jack went out of his way to get to know Biggie Smalls, a young, local rap artist with a lot of promise. Tupac Shakur heard about Biggie, travelled to Brooklyn, and the two began to perform together. Tupac put Biggie on the map. Biggie introduced Jack to Tupac, a day that would forever seal Mr. Shakur’s fate. Jack felt that rap artists should pay homage to him; after all, he lived the life they exploited through song.
Jack and Tupac hit it off. Tupac loved Jack’s street creds and the feeling of power this mobster exuded through his swagger and earned reputation. He wanted what Jack had almost more than fame and fortune. Jack provided protection, women, and marijuana. Tupac picked up the tab at all the hot clubs. Jack was unofficially managing Tupac; the two were inseparable. The duo found themselves partying at clubs such as Nell’s with the likes of Madonna and other hot stars. Jack felt that his ride with Tupac would never end.
Jack whispered in a girl’s ear one evening at Nell’s. She smiled and walked over to Tupac. The two danced and later returned to his hotel suite. The following day she returned. Tupac took her to his room; they began having sex when Jack’s crew entered the room. The young woman became the victim of date rape. She left in tears. The police later arrived and arrested Jack and Tupac. The two hired the best attorneys and planned strategy for their defense. Jack’s attorney, Paul Brenner, decided to sever Jack’s case from Shakur’s. He got Jack a six-month plea deal. The Manhattan D.A.’s office wasn’t so kind to Tupac. He went to trial, was found guilty, and was due back in court for sentencing at a later date.
Tupac felt betrayed by Jack. He thought they should have gone to trial together. He knew Jack could handle prison; he wasn’t so sure about himself. Tupac stopped taking calls from Jack and his crew. Tupac began clubbing again. He returned to Nell’s and made a fatal mistake: he commented on Jack’s criminal dealings to New York Post reporter AJ. Benza. After making Page Six the following day, Jack plotted his revenge.
Puff Daddy feared Jack so much, he once handed him ten grand and his Rolex. Jacks’ crew coaxed Shakur to Quad Studios in Manhattan to lay down some tracks with Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy roster. Tupac entered the lobby with one of Jack’s crew, a kid named Stretch Walker. Jack’s boys confronted Tupac in the lobby. He resisted a beat down and was shot several times, suffering gunshot wounds to the head and groin. Stretch was shot in the melee as well. Shakur felt that Puffy and Biggie had set him up. He was sentenced to prison a few weeks later. Jack’s muscle within the prison system relentlessly sought Shakur out. One day, Tupac received a visit from Los Angeles gangster and owner of Death Row Records, Marion ‘Suge’ Knight. Suge convinced Tupac to sign with his label. The east coast-west coast wars were set in motion.