“Kill me softly with this song,” he recited a song by the Fugees a few years back. But what was Brass Michel, one of the American trio that brought hip-hop into the musical mainstream of the charts, was rather killing the hegemonic ambitions of the United States. So he sold his soul and wallet to China. The Grammy Award-winning rapper has been found guilty of working in the service of Beijing and conspiring against the US government: According to CNN, he now faces up to 20 years in prison.
The 50-year-old artist of Haitian descent could have helped the Chinese authorities gain access to senior US officials, including two presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. A series of serious crimes have been brought against him, such as his failure to disclose to the authorities that he had received money from Beijing, his participation in an international scheme attributed to illegal electoral contributions, and bribery of witnesses. The allegations focus on the former rapper’s work on behalf of Jho Low, a fugitive Malaysian businessman accused of embezzling billions of dollars from the Kuala Lumpur sovereign wealth fund. Michel himself testified that he received $20 million from Law in 2012 to reach out to Obama and have his picture taken with him.
In 2017, with President Trump, when Law was accused of stealing billions from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, the man turned to the rapper again, and wrote a check for one hundred million dollars to persuade the US government and Trump to drop the investigation. Prosecutors said Beijing paid Michel and Lu to urge the Trump administration to extradite Guo Wengui, a US-based Chinese dissident who was arrested last month and is currently charged with fraud and money laundering. On Wednesday, April 26, Samuel Mitchell was found guilty by Washington Bracavril Federal Court of all 10 offenses with which he was charged. In addition to being part of the famous ’90s trio (along with Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean) that has sold 22 million copies worldwide, Pras is best known for the song Superstar ghetto From 1998 and starring in the movie mystery man.
“Prone to fits of apathy. Introvert. Award-winning internet evangelist. Extreme beer expert.”
