Shyne

At 45 years old, Shyne has this physical status:

In 1998, while Barrow was freestyling in a barbershop, he was discovered by hip hop producer DJ Clark Kent, who was working on The Notorious B.I.G.'s first posthumous album, Born Again. He quickly took Barrow to Bad Boy Studios, where Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs signed him on the spot. It was reported that Shyne received millions of dollars, 3 cars of his choice and 2 homes just for signing. The contract also included a 5 studio album deal. This event caused a small media shockwave.

Not long after, Shyne began making appearances on recordings made by his Bad Boy Entertainment label-mates. He was notably featured on Mase's second album, Double Up (1999), and on a remix of Total's "Sittin At Home" single. In the same year he featured on chief executive Sean Combs' second studio album Forever.

On December 27, 1999, Shyne, along with Combs and his then girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, were involved in a high-profile incident at a Manhattan club. Three people were injured. Shyne was charged with attempted murder, assault, and reckless endangerment.

Shyne released Shyne (album) in September 2000. The album featured guest appearances from Barrington Levy and 112's Slim, as well as production from Bad Boy's in house producers The Hitmen. Shyne's self-titled debut album was recorded prior to the rapper's arrest. It made Billboard's number five spot on the charts and sold more than 900,000 copies.

In June 2001, Shyne was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Combs was acquitted of weapons charges in the case. While many labels met with Shyne while he was at the Clinton Correctional Facility, the rapper ultimately signed with Def Jam Records for a $3 million contract.

In 2004, Shyne released his second album Godfather Buried Alive, while imprisoned. The album, recorded prior to imprisonment and partially over the phone, sold 434,000 copies and hit No. 1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop chart.

Upon his early release in 2009 from his 10-year prison sentence, the Belize native was deported to his homeland as a non-citizen felon; he had never become a naturalized United States citizen. He was represented by Harvard professor and attorney Charles Ogletree in his attempt to forestall deportation and later to regain entry.

On February 16, 2010, Shyne signed a seven-figure deal with Def Jam Records.

After a trip to Jerusalem in 2010, where he converted to Orthodox Judaism, Shyne collaborated with Jewish American reggae and rock musician Matisyahu on his single "Messiah", released in April 2010. He released "Roller Song" in 2010.

He later announced that he was recording two LPs for release in 2010. Messiah was set to be the first of his 2010 release schedule, while Gangland, was set to be his second.

In October 2010, Shyne criticized Def Jam and announced hopes of signing to Cash Money Records: "I'm definitely trying to get with Cash Money….I'm not signed to Def Jam anyway, I just need to find another distributor. I might just have Cash Money do everything. Who knows? That's the beauty about being in the business for yourself. You can decide where you want to go and what you want to do."

Although he blamed Def Jam CEO L.A. Reid for his frustration, later that month Shyne issued an apology. In November 2010, Birdman said that Shyne's deportation had stalled his Cash Money deal, as it would prevent him from appearing in the US.

In November 2010, Shyne was living in Jerusalem, where he underwent a formal conversion to Orthodox Judaism and arranged further studies with rabbis. He had studied seriously with rabbis while in prison and adopted the Jewish laws to create boundaries and order in his life. He officially changed his name to Moses Levi to reflect his commitment to Judaism.

Shyne made a surprise guest appearance in the Matisyahu and HaDag Nachash concert in Jerusalem's Kikar Safra on June 23, 2011. He rapped into Matisyahu's set for "King Without a Crown". He shouted "Free Jonathan Pollard, Free Gilad Shalit" to thunderous applause before he exited the stage. Matisyahu and Shyne have shared Judaism and have become best friends. They have discussed collaborating more frequently in the future.

In August 2011, Shyne appeared on the track "Outro", from Lil Wayne's platinum-selling ninth studio album Tha Carter IV (2011), along with Bun B, Nas and Busta Rhymes. In December 2011, Shyne said signing to Cash Money Records "is still a possibility". In March 2012, Shyne and Diddy finally reconciled. The two were photographed together at Fashion Week in Paris; Diddy tweeted, "Me and Shyne Po front row at Kenzo #ParisIsBurning RT to da world!!!!"

In April 2012, Shyne traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, where he was a featured speaker at a conference on inter-religious understanding. The conference – called Global Winds of Change: Religions' Role in Today's World;The Challenges in Democracies and Secular Societies – brought together members of the world's many faiths to discuss the role of religion in modern society. Oleksandr Feldman, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the President of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, hosted the three-day event.

In October 2012, Shyne endorsed Mitt Romney for president of the United States, faulting incumbent President Obama for not doing anything to prevent the rapper's deportation to Belize.

In 2012, Shyne released a mixtape, Gangland. Shyne called out Rick Ross, due to his blasphemous Black Bar Mitzvah mixtape, as well as Jewish-Canadian rapper Drake. He has recorded diss tracks towards Diddy, Swag Blanket's DLSupreme and 50 Cent.

In November 2012, Shyne became involved in a feud with West Coast rapper Game, after Shyne described West Coast rapper Kendrick Lamar's universally acclaimed debut album good kid, m.A.A.d city as "trash". Shyne dissed Game on tracks such as "Bury Judas" and "Psalms 68 (Guns & Moses)". These tracks reflected his study of Judaism.

Complex Magazine in December 2012 noted Shyne on its list of rapper stars who had suffered the "30 worst fall-offs in rap history", ranking him as 23. But Shyne's Gangland mixtape appeared to show a revival of his popularity; it was downloaded more than 100,000 times on DatPiff.com, earning him a "Gold" ranking.

Political career

In 2012, Shyne, critical of the Obama administration, endorsed Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

In 2020, Shyne was nominated by the United Democratic Party to stand as a candidate for the Belize House of Representatives in the Belize City-based Mesopotamia constituency in the 2020 Belizean general election. On November 11, 2020, Barrow won the House of Representatives seat for Mesopotamia. Shyne was also elected as the leader of opposition of the United Democratic Party (Belize).

Source