As Black musicians continue to face barriers to generational wealth throughout their careers, Fugees founding member, Wyclef Jean has collaborated with fellow artists Pusha T, Lola Brooke, Capella Grey, and Flau’jae to release a new track titled “Paper Right,” inspired by Jean’s mission to help Black musicians, creatives and creators establish generational wealth.
Jean spoke with rolling out about the song and gave tips to the younger generation looking to build generational wealth.
What do you think the younger generation needs to do to get their paper right?
Fifty-four percent of Black Americans’ money is not being saved, and they don’t have money when they retire. I think the information starts by saying that at a very young age, you actually can start saving. Sometimes we don’t think that. I want you all to look at it and be like “I might be 15 years old, or I might be 16 years old,” but if you follow this clause, by the time you’re 24 your paper will be right. I always start by saying “Respect money, and money will respect you. Don’t live for money, but let the money live for you.” What that means is, this is how we build generational wealth.
What I want you to do is start to take advantage of the government programs. I want you to start to look at these policies that are put in place for you financially, even through retirement that you’re not aware of. Take this tutorial as a case study. Our best friend is Google, so a lot of times, our communities are not shown this information until it’s too late. Make sure you go online, and you can do a case study and follow the information. How do you get your paper right? How do you set up an account? How do you set up a bond? How do you set up a trust? All of this is very important, and you’re not too young for that.
I’m the perfect example, where I wasn’t spending my paper right, and sometimes I made super bad investments and lost a lot of money. In losing that money, because I looked up the information, I was able to make that money back. Saving is one thing, but also within saving, look at investment opportunities. You’re not too young at all, because you have YouTubers that are like 16, 17, and 18 years old, that are making millions of dollars, just from subscribers. That same energy that y’all give, to go on your TikToks to get someone to like your vibe, I need you to use that same energy to research generational wealth and start to focus.
