In a new interview with Vulture, Fugees MC Pras Michel has addressed the abrupt cancellation of the remainder of their embattled North American reunion tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, revealing that he was "both surprised and not surprised" by the way things transpired.
Many were also not surprised when the group called off the remaining US dates earlier this month — three days before they were set to play the first show. Miss Lauryn Hill, famous for being late to her concerts, had to postpone a number of her solo shows last year due to "serious vocal strain."
The Fugees cited "unforeseen circumstances" as the reason for the cancellation, but Hill opted to blame "some media outlet's [sic] penchant for sensationalism and clickbait headlines" for creating a narrative that her vocal injury "affected ticket sales for the North American portion of the tour."
"Everyone's frustration has been building up. This is not something that just happened overnight," Michel told the publication's Shamira Ibrahim, expressing his frustration for the sake of the fans. "They are paying their hard-earned money to see you."
He went on to cite a 2021 Global Citizen performance, where organizers "were gracious enough to let us play at another location because they knew that Lauryn could be late and it's live. They were like, go film it and then we'll just inject it into whatever segment of the show that we're projecting."
"She was three hours late. It was raining. We had fans whose cars were getting towed," Michel continued. "The mayor had to reimburse some of the towing. He's a fan of the Fugees too; he felt bad."
The rapper said he's known Hill since she was 11 years old, and other trio member Wyclef Jean for even longer — and after all this time, whenever they start performing together, the feeling is euphoric. "But there's obviously reservation," Michel added. "We don't even ask if she's gonna be on time anymore; we say, 'How late is she going to be?' It gets to a point that you say, is it even really all worth it?"
However, the MC was adamant that his new song "Bar Mitzfa" — which includes the line, "Don't blame me, blame her, she made the mess / Not another fucking penny, is what I told Clef" — is somehow not intended to be a diss track toward Hill.
"I love Lauryn. She's like a little sister, we could not beef at all," he told Ibrahim. "You're family, you have internal disagreements, but it's not going to be on a level where I'm dissing her — that doesn't make any sense. Artistically speaking, sometimes we say things because that's how we express ourselves. This track is me speaking my truth."
Michel is also dealing with ongoing legal issues after being found guilty of political conspiracy last year for orchestrating undisclosed lobbying campaigns with the aid of a now-fugitive Malaysian financier with the goal of influencing the US government. He subsequently asked for a retrial, claiming that his lawyer used AI to write a butchered closing argument.