Pras has confirmed his participation in the upcoming Fugees reunion show, but confesses that he was pretty surprised that a tour was even happening with his erstwhile bandmates.
TMZ caught up with the embattled rapper on Friday (September 1), where he was first asked how he felt to be seen as so influential after all these years.
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“I guess we’re blessed,” he said, referring to himself and the other Fugees, when asked how he’d been able to maintain such an influence for so long.
However, when asked about the upcoming tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Lauryn Hill’s Miseducation album, Pras had a very surprising answer.
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“I didn’t even know the tour was happening, to be honest with you,” he said. “I don’t know. But I heard about it through the media. I’m going, obviously, but I just heard about it last week.”
As for new music, when asked whether he’d be giving the fans the new tunes they’d been so desperate for since the 1990s, he was cautiously optimistic. “I’m taking it day by day,” he said while not commenting on his legal situation.
Check out the full interview with the outlet below.
Shortly after the TMZ story went live, however, Pras’s publicist Erica Dumas released a statement exclusively to HipHopDX debunking the claims that the Fugees tour was a surprise.
“Contrary to TMZ, Pras Michel was well aware of the upcoming Fugees reunion tour,” she wrote on Saturday (September 2). “He, Lauryn, and Wyclef have been in communication about this tour since early summer. As this is Ms. Hill’s tour, Pras respectfully deferred any public comment until her team was prepared to make the official announcement. He is thrilled to be reuniting with his Fugees partners and looks forward to celebrating their music with fans across the globe. Any reports claiming Pras was unaware of the tour are patently false.”
On April 26, Pras was found guilty on 10 counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., witness tampering, and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Despite his conviction, Pras insists that he’s innocent.
“Pras was never an FBI informant. It’s not accurate and, quite frankly, it’s dangerous,” his publicist, Erica Dumas, said to the outlet. “If he was an informant, he would not be on trial. The government does not prosecute and threaten its informants with more than two decades of jail time.”
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Though artists like 50 Cent have claimed that Pras was a snitch, there has been one artist that has steadfastly stood by the embattled rapper: Chuck D of Public Enemy.
Taking to Twitter on April 27, the Public Enemy MC blasted what he called a “prop-agenda machine” that was biased against the rapper seemingly from the start.
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“Pras was a valedictorian in HighSchool or in the final runnings,” he wrote. “They NEVER mention THAT. Instead USA propAgenda machine ALWAYS promotes this backwoods Jed ass Clampett tale of Hood gangstaS, which NEVER been a threat ANYWHERE other than Blackfolk. Wrong is wrong but this SMELLS.”
This story was updated on September 2, 2023, to include a statement from Erica Dumas, Pras Michel’s publicist.
