Haitian Rapper Black Alex Shot Four Times, Wyclef Lends Support

Haitian rapper Black Alex was shot several times last week in Petionville, Haiti, after unknown assailants robbed him of a diamond-encrusted necklace and pendant that sources said was given to him by associate Wyclef Jean. Sources told AllHipHop.com that Black Alex was leaving a concert that was part of a soccer game in the suburb […]

Haitian rapper

Black Alex was shot several times last week in Petionville, Haiti, after unknown

assailants robbed him of a diamond-encrusted necklace and pendant that sources

said was given to him by associate Wyclef Jean.

Sources told AllHipHop.com

that Black Alex was leaving a concert that was part of a soccer game in the

suburb of Port-au-Prince on April 2, when he was robbed at gunpoint for the

chain, worth an estimated $20,000.

The robbers shot

him four times and also took an unknown amount of money. Paramedics rushed the

rapper to a Port-au-Prince hospital in critical condition.

Black Alex, born

James Pierre Alexis, rose to popularity in Haiti with the group King Posse.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and according to published

reports, 75 percent of the people live below the poverty level set by the World

Bank.

The country was

originally inhabited by Arawak and Taino tribes until the 15th century, when

Spanish landed on the island around 1492. The original population was enslaved

and ravaged by disease and quickly died out.

The island was

then colonized by the Spanish and the French, who brought African slave labor

to Haiti and the Caribbean for sugar production. In 1791, The Haitian Revolution

started as a slave uprising and led to the establishment of the black nation

of Haiti in 1801.

In 2004, tropical

storm Jeanne hit the island, killing over 3,000 people and leaving an estimated

350,000 people homeless. The country’s former leader, President Jean-Bertrand

Aristide, was ousted in the middle of the storm.

Various rappers,

including Wyclef Jean and Jimmy "Henchmen" Rosemond have donated time

and money to various causes to help the impoverished island.

"Black Alex

was very instrumental in our efforts of bringing awareness to the Haitian cause

in and out of Haiti," Rosemond told AllHipHop.com.

Sources also told

AllHipHop.com that Wyclef flew to Haiti and had Black Alex airlifted to Cuba,

where the rapper could receive better medical treatment for the gunshot wounds,

one of which lied just two inches from his heart.

Black Alex is in

critical condition but he is expected to recover from his wounds.