Pras drops Lauryn Hill diss track after cancelled tour: ‘Bar Mitzfa’ lyrics and story behind the song

The Fugees planned to celebrate the anniversaries of their iconic, collective and individual Grammy-winning albums, The Score and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by reforming to go out on the road.

A 25th anniversary tour with dates in the United States and Europe was announced in June. The 18-date US leg was due to start on 9 August at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa, Florida and take in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Dallas before reaching a climax at the Hollywood Bowl on 17 September.

But just three days before the opening show, Ticketmaster confirmed that all of the US shows were cancelled, with ticketholders issued refunds. It’s not the first time that the band has left fans disappointed by cancelling shows. Late last year, seven shows planned for November and December were pulled with Hill explaining her vocal cords were strained.

“As many of you may know, I’ve been battling serious vocal strain for the past month,” she said. “I made it through each show by taking prescribed prednisone, but this can be detrimental to the body when taken in large amounts over long periods of time. In order to prevent any long term negative affect on my voice and my body, I need to take time off to allow for real vocal recovery so that I can discontinue the medication completely.”

Poor ticket sales, expensive tickets...

No explanation has been given about why this year’s tour dates have been pulled (although the European leg, with dates in Manchester, London, Paris and Amsterdam is going ahead as scheduled). There had been rumors of poor ticket sales and some complaints about ticket prices, with VIP meet-and-greet packages close to a thousand dollars. Other complaints included difficulties in accessing Ticketmaster’s website.

Former Fugee Pras didn’t waste any time in taking a pot shot at Ms Hill, blaming her for the tour cancellation and her notorious habit of turning up late for shows and keeping her audience waiting. At one New Jersey show, Hill took to the stage two hours later than the planned start.

Pras’ reference to Lauryn Hill in ‘Bar Mitzfa’

Pras posted a two-minute song, titled Bar Mitzfa first on Instagram Story then and edited version exclusively on TMZ. Hill is referenced at the start of the song and in the outro, firing a broadside at his old bandmate, with the following lyrics:

“Time’s up. Life a game of chess, best protect your neck/Still waiting for me to lose don’t hold your breath/Don’t blame me, blame her, she made the mess/ Not another f**king penny, is what I told ‘Clef/ Trotting the globe with the bros, playing dominoes/No one will remember: click bait beefs, how many Gucci bags you owned/ bogus excuses/People will remember: How you made them feel, if you kept your word, if they could count on you, if you come on Time!!!”

Pras was later interviewed by TMZ Hip Hop, and noted that the resentment started to bubble when the band were still at the peak of their powers, “I saved her reputation for 20 years by not telling my side of the story... but oops, cat’s out the bag.”

For now, and unless there are any new developments, the Fugees’ European tour continues with dates at Co-op Live, Manchester (12 October), O2 Arena, London (14 October), Accor Arena, Paris (18 October) and Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam (22 October).

Last year, Ms Hill addressed her erratic punctuality: “They say, ‘She’s late a lot. Yo, y’all lucky I make it on this stage every night. I don’t do it because they let me do it. I do it because I stand here in the name of God.

“God is the one who allows me to do it, who surrounded me with family and community when there was no support, when the album [1998′s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill] sold so many records and no one showed up and said, ‘Hey, would you like to make another one?’ So I went around the world, and I played the same album over and over and over and over again. Because we’re the survivors. We’re not just the survivors, we’re the thrivers.”