Post by dawyked on Nov 19, 2005 21:11:12 GMT 1
Former Fugees rapper Prakazrel "Pras" Michel turns the other cheek with his second album Cold Fire, due in early 2004. Wyclef Jean took shots at him on the recent mixtape song "Fake Ass Pras" -- in which 'Clef compared his childhood friend to Milli Vanilli and rhymed, "The fans want the Fugees back together/The only thing they don't want is the third member" -- and now Pras is coming back strong, but not dirty.
The first shot is the gunplay-heavy street single, "One for My Niggaz," a collaboration with Sheek of the Lox in which Pras raps, not coincidentally, about keeping your friends by your side and your enemies ever closer.
"It's a shot, but just a subliminal one," Pras says. "[Wyclef] said what he had to say, and I'm sorry he felt like that. I think it's childish. I'm trying to move forward. I've been busy contemplating how I wanted to reinvent myself and come back. I had to think of Pras outside the Fugees and deal with some of my demons."
A big part of his reinvention is Guerrilla Entertainment, a multimedia company he recently formed with a trio of investment professionals. Among the projects coming up under the Guerrilla banner is an underground mixtape album produced by Cut Master C and Big Mike called Pras Presents Guerrilla Task Force, due to hit streets in early September. The album will feature the mostly unknown members of the Guerrilla crew, which includes MCs Tempamental and Mister, as well as Pras' childhood friend Robin Andre and R&B singer Sharli. A number of rock bands have also signed on with the Guerrilla camp, including Canadian hard rockers Cube.
Pras plans to launch the careers of his clique off the success of Cold Fire. The album mostly features Guerrilla camp members, though dancehall sensation Sean Paul dropped by to record a few lines for "Busti Dancehall," R. Kelly lends vocals to "Better Off Without You" and Fugees producer Salaam Remi worked on a number of the album's tracks. Other songs slated for the nearly finished album include "Take Me Home," "Friend of Friend," "This Type of Shit," "What's On My Mind" and the first single "Light My Fire." Pras has been speaking with Bono about clearing a U2 sample for one of the songs.
"People don't really know me because they never got used to me as an artist," says Pras, whose 1998 solo debut Ghetto Superstar, received only a lukewarm reception. He retreated from music shortly after, concentrating on acting in films such as Mystery Men, Turn It Up and Higher Ed, as well as filming an appearance on the canceled TV drama Fast Lane. He still has the acting bug -- among the half-dozen films he is either producing or planning to star in for Guerrilla is an update of the road comedy Cannonball Run entitled Last Ride and slated to feature Jon Voight and Ving Rhames.
As for a Fugees reunion, Pras thinks it's unlikely, but not totally out of the question. "Anything can happen," he says. "Look at the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac! As it stands now, Clef doesn't want me in the group. If him and Lauryn both feel that way, I respect that. I'm the biggest Fugees fan, so if the two of them can make it and find someone else who can bring that chemistry, I'm with it."
Pras is satisfied with his new life, regardless of whether Cold Fire puts him back into the limelight. "This is my second wind," he says. "The burden of being one third of the Fugees is coming off my shoulder. I'm becoming Pras: businessman, entrepreneur, actor. I'm going after what's coming to me . . . and that's the world."
The first shot is the gunplay-heavy street single, "One for My Niggaz," a collaboration with Sheek of the Lox in which Pras raps, not coincidentally, about keeping your friends by your side and your enemies ever closer.
"It's a shot, but just a subliminal one," Pras says. "[Wyclef] said what he had to say, and I'm sorry he felt like that. I think it's childish. I'm trying to move forward. I've been busy contemplating how I wanted to reinvent myself and come back. I had to think of Pras outside the Fugees and deal with some of my demons."
A big part of his reinvention is Guerrilla Entertainment, a multimedia company he recently formed with a trio of investment professionals. Among the projects coming up under the Guerrilla banner is an underground mixtape album produced by Cut Master C and Big Mike called Pras Presents Guerrilla Task Force, due to hit streets in early September. The album will feature the mostly unknown members of the Guerrilla crew, which includes MCs Tempamental and Mister, as well as Pras' childhood friend Robin Andre and R&B singer Sharli. A number of rock bands have also signed on with the Guerrilla camp, including Canadian hard rockers Cube.
Pras plans to launch the careers of his clique off the success of Cold Fire. The album mostly features Guerrilla camp members, though dancehall sensation Sean Paul dropped by to record a few lines for "Busti Dancehall," R. Kelly lends vocals to "Better Off Without You" and Fugees producer Salaam Remi worked on a number of the album's tracks. Other songs slated for the nearly finished album include "Take Me Home," "Friend of Friend," "This Type of Shit," "What's On My Mind" and the first single "Light My Fire." Pras has been speaking with Bono about clearing a U2 sample for one of the songs.
"People don't really know me because they never got used to me as an artist," says Pras, whose 1998 solo debut Ghetto Superstar, received only a lukewarm reception. He retreated from music shortly after, concentrating on acting in films such as Mystery Men, Turn It Up and Higher Ed, as well as filming an appearance on the canceled TV drama Fast Lane. He still has the acting bug -- among the half-dozen films he is either producing or planning to star in for Guerrilla is an update of the road comedy Cannonball Run entitled Last Ride and slated to feature Jon Voight and Ving Rhames.
As for a Fugees reunion, Pras thinks it's unlikely, but not totally out of the question. "Anything can happen," he says. "Look at the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac! As it stands now, Clef doesn't want me in the group. If him and Lauryn both feel that way, I respect that. I'm the biggest Fugees fan, so if the two of them can make it and find someone else who can bring that chemistry, I'm with it."
Pras is satisfied with his new life, regardless of whether Cold Fire puts him back into the limelight. "This is my second wind," he says. "The burden of being one third of the Fugees is coming off my shoulder. I'm becoming Pras: businessman, entrepreneur, actor. I'm going after what's coming to me . . . and that's the world."
