Exclusive: Grammy-winning rapper Pras talks for the first time ever to Rolling Stone about going from Fugees glory to backroom dealmaker to accused foreign agent facing 22 years in prison.
Pras’ troubles began in November 2018, when the government, through the constitutionally debatable authority known as civil-asset forfeiture, seized about $74 million from him that was held in four separate bank accounts. The water came to a full boil in May 2019 with the first indictment on four criminal counts for illegal contributions to the 2012 Obama reelection campaign.
Were Pras to be found guilty on all counts, he could go away for 22 years. Unlikely, but not impossible. After all, this is the stated aim of the indictments, both of which notably name Low and Pras as co-defendants, even though Low remains at large and is widely believed to be living in China under the protection of Xi Jinping’s government.
Columbia High was fertile ground for young performers. To fulfill his sports requirement, Pras signed up for modern dance, where he didn’t mind being the only guy in the class. As a sophomore, he already had a vision for a hip-hop act with himself and two girls. “This is the beginning of the Fugees,” he says. At dance class, he heard about an eighth-grader who was an incredible singer. Lauryn Hill’s older brother, who was in Pras’ class, made the introduction.
His solo career couldn’t match Hill’s or Jean’s, so it’s easy to forget that in 1998 — when Pras releasedhis first solo album — the Grammy-nominated title track featuring Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Mya blasted out of car stereos from Liverpool to Stockholm, and was one ofFollowing the dictates of rap stardom, Pras was never timid about showcasing the perks.
“I’m not into this back-and-forth nonsense, so this is going to be my last thing on this,” Pras recalls Low announcing. “I want to buy every single water bottle in the club, every juice bottle, anything that’s a bottle with a liquid in it, I want to buy it.” Finally, he demanded that someone head to a nightclub across the street and buy a bottle for everyone partying in that club as well. In 20 minutes, he’d spent what Pras estimated to be about a million dollars, maybe a million-five.
The admiration was evidently mutual. During the 2008 election, when the campaigns released lists of their candidate’s favorite songs, Obama’s top pick was “Ready or Not,” fromPras shared his convictions with anyone who would listen, including the promoter, who, Pras says, told his client in Malaysia. Skeptical, Low contacted Pras directly. “I would give my reasons. I would go through my whole spiel,” Pras recalls. “Cut to, Obama won, and the next time I heard from Jho Low was in 2012.
In the summer of 2012, as Scorsese started filming, and after Low acquired a $100 million stake in Sony Music Publishing, he reconnected with Pras to discuss his next venture. To keep the 1MDB gambit going, Low needed pull with the U.S. government, and he set out to pave a similar path into Washington as he had in Hollywood. It’s the record of those schemes that shapes the Justice Department’s indictments against Pras.
These events can be interpreted in a couple of ways. To the Justice Department, Pras and Low “conspired to circumvent federal law against foreign influence” so they “could buy access to” Obama. Another interpretation, according to the defense, is that the two men, both unfamiliar with the arcane rules governing the Federal Election Commission , were using each other to achieve their own goals.
Pras was now a regular in Low’s world. There were connections to be made and, he had to admit, fun to be had. It should be noted that while his tastes might be conservative by rap-star standards and his SoHo apartment austere, Pras is no ascetic when it comes to the finer things. Afterhe picked up a powder-blue Ferrari Maranello. When he’s in L.A., he drives a Lamborghini Urus. He’s also got a bit of a Swiss-watch problem.
Low had had a good run. But in Washington that election year, the Obama administration had a parting message for him. On July 20, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the seizure of about $1 billion in 1MDB-financed assets: real estate from Los Angeles to London, Low’s private jet, a Van Gogh and a Monet, Low’s share in Sony Music, the proceeds fromIt was a major blow, but far from fatal.
With the agreements in place and Broidy as the heavy, the trio set out for Bangkok, where Low booked them rooms at the Shangri-La Hotel. Before departing, Davis emailed Broidy: “Since u [sic] land earlier, [Pras] and I will see you at arrivals.… Thanks and bon voyage — here’s the start of an exciting and prosperous adventure!” At the Shangri-La, Broidy assured Low that he would lean on the Trump administration to bring an end to the investigations and asset seizures.
IT WAS SPRING in New York City, and Pras was walking laps around the Four Seasons Hotel on East 57th Street. He didn’t know why he was doing this, and as he rounded the block onto Madison Avenue, then turned onto 58th Street, and then back to Park and back to Madison again, it occurred to Pras that whoever left the card at the front desk instructing him to walk this route before reentering the hotel might now be preparing to kill him.
Pras took a breath. “It’s a little bit above my pay grade,” he said, “but if you want my personal opinion, send them back home.” Lijun asked him to explain. “Look, man, this woman is pregnant. From a humanistic perspective, wouldn’t it make more sense to send her back in good faith so she can be with her family when she goes into labor?” Pras said. “That’s just my opinion.”
“That was you?” the surprised agents asked Pras. He didn’t understand the question any better than the FBI understood the situation. “She just showed up in New York,” Pras says they explained, “and no one knew how she got here.” For the government, Pras’ willingness to converse with Lijun about these topics is proof of the conspiracy that could put him behind bars for decades.
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