Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant is a Haitian-born music executive and promoter in the rap music industry. He has worked with several popular artists including

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the Li ...

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

, Justin Rose, and

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...

. In 2007, he was deported from the United States.

Life and career

Agnant's family migrated to

East Flatbush, Brooklyn East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands, Canarsie and the L ...

from Haiti. He became immersed in the street life by selling drugs during the

crack epidemic The crack epidemic was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the United States throughout the entirety of the 1980s and the early 1990s. This resulted in a number of social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in Ameri ...

of the 1980s and 1990s. Eventually, he became a

club promoter A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view ...

. He was also involved with singer

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

. Agnant managed various rappers and collaborated with

, who is a paternal relative. He became friends with rapper

. Shakur accused Agnant of orchestrating the robbery at Quad Recording Studios in 1994 in his song "Against All Odds," in which Shakur was shot. Agnant denied that he had ordered the attack. Around this time, Agnant was hired Director of A&R by his friend Lance "Un' Rivera, CEO of the rap label Undeas Recordings. In 1999, Agnant was hired as security by music executive

Steve Stoute Steve Stoute (born June 26, 1970) is an American businessman and record executive. Stoute is the founder and CEO of the Translation, a marketing agency, and the author of ''The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the ...

, following an altercation in which

Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent direct ...

assaulted Stoute with a champagne bottle. Following a conviction for a shooting in a Los Angeles nightclub in 2004, which led to prison time, Agnant was deported to Haiti in 2007. In 2015, it was reported that Benny Boom was set to direct a miniseries on the life of Haitian Jack. In 2021, Agnant was featured in the FX documentary ''Hip Hop'' ''Uncovered''. He currently lives in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. He is best known for his connection to Tupac in the early 1990s.

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Haitian emigrants to the United States Tupac Shakur People from Flatbush, Brooklyn Haitian businesspeople People deported from the United States Haitian expatriates in the Dominican Republic {{Haiti-bio-stub