Comedian Tracy Morgan says he broke down in tears after finding out that he and rapper Nas were distant cousins thanks to a trace back to his ancestors in slavery.
It’s not unusual for families to be a part of Hollywood, but what happens when you find out that you and another major talent had the same ancestor? That’s what Morgan learned about him and Nas from the show Finding Your Roots.
According to the comedian on the Connect the Dots podcast, he and the “World is Ours” rapper are longtime friends, but now they are not-so-distant cousins. “I turn the last page, and guess who’s sitting there? Nas. Me and Nas is third cousins on my mom’s side,” Morgan said.
He continued, “Me and Esco was always tight before that. I did a show years ago on Comedy Central called One Mic that was for Nas’ mom that just passed away. So me and Esco always been tight.”
The comedian also said he broke the news to Nas, who got emotional at finding the connection through his late mother.
“I called him up, and I say, ‘Yo Esco.’ He said, ‘What up Tray?’ And I said, ‘I just did Finding Your Roots. Me and you related,” Morgan continues. “He started crying, I started crying. And I said to him, ‘If you ever need me, I’m there, Cuz.’ He said, ‘Cuz, if you ever need me, I’m there.'”
According to the comedian Find Your Roots, he traced his ancestry as far back as 400 years ago to the slave ship that brought his distant ancestor- his five-times-over great-grandfather to America. Nas was also on the same show years ago in 2014, where his genealogy trace led back to a bill of sale of one of his ancestors when he was sold. The connection by the show also led to him finding relatives he never knew he had.
The show also traced Nas’ lineage all the way back to 1859 to his third great-grandmother, who was named Pocahontas and was sold as a 15-year-old slave for $830.
“They paid $830 for my great-great-great-grandma? I got more than that in my pocket right now. This is painful. To see that, that hurts,” the rapper said after seeing a photo of the slave owner, Benjamin Franklin Little, who bought her.
He also found a marriage license for Pocahontas and his 3x great-grandfather, Calvin.
