Tracy Morgan and Nas may already be friends, but a new discovery during a DNA test led them to discover an even deeper connection.
During the conversation on Connect the dots podcast, Morgan detailed his upcoming appearance on the PBS genealogy show Searching for your rootswhere a DNA test revealed that the rap legend is actually his third cousin.
“I turn to the last page and guess who’s sitting there? Nas. Me and Nas are third cousins on my mom’s side,” Morgan, 55, revealed during a podcast appearance.
“But me and Esco were always close before that,” he added. “I did a show years ago on Comedy Central One microphone, it was for Nasa’s mom who just passed away. So Esco and I have always been close.”
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Morgan — who is set to appear in the eighth episode of the upcoming tenth season of the PBS series “Mean Streets” — revealed that he later called his longtime friend to share the surprising news.
“When I found out on the West Side Highway, after the show, I called him and said, ‘Yo Esco,’ he said, ‘What’s up Trey?’ I said, ‘Guess what?’ He said, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘I just did Searching for your rootsyou and I are connected,’ Morgan recalled telling Us , 50.
“He started crying, I started crying too. And I told him: ‘If you ever need me, I’m here, cousin.’ He said, ‘Therefore, if you ever I need me right here.'”
Tracy Morgan and Nas attend the 2004 VH1 Hip Hop Honors.
Stephen Lovekin/FilmMagic
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As Morgan noted, the episode is set to air in February, and he learned a few more facts about his family history in the process.
“They went back 400 years on my father’s side and 400 years on my mother’s side,” he said. “I thought I was big in my life until I found out what my great, great, great grandmother did. My great, great, great, great, great grandfather’s name was Abraham Mack. I know the name of the slave masters that owned us — I have it right here on your phone — and a slave ship.”
He continued, “You have to know who you come from before you leave this earth. Know who you are and where you come from. The very realization. I cried a lot. And no matter who you are, you’re going to break down.”
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Several other celebrities appeared on the Searching for your roots, including Maya Rudolph, Neil Patrick Harris and Julia Roberts. And Morgan and Nas are not the only two famous faces who have found a DNA connection through the series.
In May, Terry Crews and Billy Crudup met for the first time as a family after discovering they were cousins. Months before that, Bill Hader detailed an email he received from Carol Burnett in which she told him they were also cousins.
Next season of Searching for your roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. it will have 10 episodes. It premieres on January 2nd on PBS.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education