Shyne

Moses Michael Levi Barrow (born Jamal Michael Barrow; November 8, 1978), best known by his stage name Shyne, is a Belizean politician and former rapper. He served as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives, and the leader of the Belize United Democratic Party. Barrow was born in Belize City but moved to New York City as a child and began to rap as an adolescent. His most commercially recognized 2000¹ singles include, "Bad Boyz" and "Bonnie & Shyne" (both featuring Barrington Levy). He contributed to albums by artists including the Notorious B.I.G.'s posthumous Born Again, Mase's Double Up, Sean Combs's Forever, Usher's Confessions, and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV. Shyne and his mother lived in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East Flatbush, where after being discovered freestyling in a barbershop, he became a rapper. On the verge of releasing his debut album under Combs' Bad Boy Records, on the evening of , he went to a New York City nightclub with Combs and Jennifer Lopez. An argument broke out in the club between Combs and another man; gunshots followed with three bystanders injured. In June 2001, he was convicted of assault and unlawful possession of a weapon, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His eponymous debut album was released in September 2000, going gold the following month.…

Moses Michael Levi Barrow (born Jamal Michael Barrow; November 8, 1978), best known by his stage name Shyne, is a Belizean politician and former rapper. He served as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives, and the leader of the Belize United Democratic Party. Barrow was born in Belize City but moved to New York City as a child and began to rap as an adolescent. His most commercially recognized 2000 singles include, "Bad Boyz" and "Bonnie & Shyne" (both featuring Barrington Levy). He contributed to albums by artists including the Notorious B.I.G.'s posthumous Born Again, Mase's Double Up, Sean Combs's Forever, Usher's Confessions, and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV. Shyne and his mother lived in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East Flatbush, where after being discovered freestyling in a barbershop, he became a rapper. On the verge of releasing his debut album under Combs' Bad Boy Records, on the evening of , he went to a New York City nightclub with Combs and Jennifer Lopez. An argument broke out in the club between Combs and another man; gunshots followed with three bystanders injured. In June 2001, he was convicted of assault and unlawful possession of a weapon, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His eponymous debut album was released in September 2000, going gold the following month. He continued to record music while incarcerated, eventually releasing his sophomore studio album, Godfather Buried Alive, under Def Jam Recordings in 2004. While serving his prison sentence, Shyne became interested in Judaism, becoming observant – practicing Orthodox Judaism, and officially changed his name to Moses Michael Levi Barrow in 2006. After he was released from prison in late 2009¹, he was deported to Belize. In 2010, he moved to Jerusalem, where he spent his time studying the Torah up to 12 hours a day. He returned to Belize in 2013, where he was appointed Belize Music and Goodwill Ambassador with a mandate to support the national music industry. Shyne was elected to the Belizean House of Representatives in the 2020 general election, as a member of the center-right United Democratic Party. He served as Leader of the Opposition and leader of the United Democratic Party between June and September 2021, and again from February 2022. A documentary about his life, The Honorable Shyne, was released by Hulu/Andscape in November 2024¹.

Shooting and trial (1999–2001)

On December 27, 1999, Shyne, Sean Combs, and Combs' then-girlfriend, singer/actress Jennifer Lopez, were present at a shooting at Club New York, a Manhattan nightclub in Times Square. The three of them were in attendance at a Manhattan nightclub named Club New York, on West 43rd Street in Times Square. Witnesses said that a felon named Matthew "Scar" Allen started an argument with Combs. Witnesses later testified that Allen also threatened to kill Shyne. Prosecutors charged that after Allen's accomplice threw money at Combs, the two men and Shyne all drew guns. Soon after, three gunshots were fired in the packed nightclub. The shooting resulted in three bystanders being injured. Shyne was accused by prosecutors as was Combs of drawing a gun in the confrontation. Shyne said he acted in self-defense. One injured witness, Natania Reuben, said she saw both Combs and Shyne shoot guns; Reuben was shot in the nose. Shyne was accused of firing three shots that wounded three people. He maintained that he had fired into the air, and did not believe that it was bullets from his gun that injured the bystanders. Combs was represented by Benjamin Brafman and Johnnie Cochran, while Shyne's defense attorney was Murray Richman. At his trial, an eyewitness and a ballistics expert testified that the three injuries may have been caused not by Shyne, but by a second gunman. The ballistics expert said that at least one injury may have been caused by a .40 caliber weapon, while Shyne had a 9 millimeter gun. 40-caliber shells were found on the floor. Shyne was convicted at trial by a jury on two counts of assault and of reckless endangerment, and criminal possession of an illegal weapon, after a seven-week trial alongside Combs. He was acquitted of charges of attempted murder, on a third count of intentional assault in the first degree of a third victim, and one other count. He was sentenced on June 1, 2001, to ten years in prison, without eligibility for parole until 2009. He served nearly nine years in New York state prisons. Combs and his bodyguard, Anthony "Wolf" Jones, in contrast, were acquitted on all counts. Combs had been arrested and charged with illegally having two 9-millimeter guns and with bribery but was acquitted of the charges at the trial. Combs' bodyguard, who had been charged with illegal possession of a gun and bribery, was also acquitted at the trial. Conrad Tillard, then known as the "hip hop minister" Conrad Muhammad, said: "Shyne's mother and grandmother placed this young man in the care and custody of Sean "Puffy" Combs, who they believed was a responsible executive of a company. Puffy has the same responsibility as a teacher, as a coach. This boy, Shyne, was out with his idol on that fateful night. When I put my child in your hands, I don't expect him to end up dead or in jail." In the 2024 documentary The Honorable Shyne, he expressed the belief that his defense attorney may have undermined his trial. Claims made by others regarding ritual acts before the trial is noted in the documentary but lack independent verification.

Incarceration and Judaism conversion (2001–09)

Shyne began serving his sentence at the maximum security prison Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York. His legal team requested for an appeal for a suspended sentence, which ultimately failed. During his time, Shyne attempted to "spit" on Combs after the latter tried to offer him $50,000 in cash to "take the fall" for the 1999 incident. Barrow has said that from the age of 13, he began to identify as an Israelite, after learning that his great-grandmother was a descendant of the Beta Israel, ancient Ethiopian Jews. As a teenager, he began to study Judaism and the Old Testament on his own, and to pray daily. In March 2006, he legally changed his name to Moses Michael Levi Barrow. He had already been studying Judaism at the time of his arrest. In prison, with rabbis he became a practicing Jew, keeping kosher, and celebrating the Jewish Sabbath and Jewish holidays. He formally converted to Orthodox Judaism in Jerusalem, Israel, in 2010. Furthermore, as he had started to observe the Jewish Sabbath, he was completely unavailable for any publicity contacts on Friday nights and Saturdays. Also in 2006, Shyne went to court to challenge New York's application of the "Son of Sam" law, which had resulted in his assets being frozen and limited his ability to make record deals and generate income. He and his lawyers argued that by the court allowing Shyne to make deals with record producers, it would enable him to pay a higher potential settlement to victims of the shooting, who were separately pursuing civil lawsuits against him. Despite his convictions, his incarceration drew many sympathizers, as well as the admiration of many in the hip hop community. His adherence to the code of silence, which he referred to several times on his eponymous debut album, earned him a hardcore reputation in the prison community and on the streets. Even while incarcerated, he was visited by representatives of record labels who wanted to make deals. Describing his nine years of incarceration, Shyne said: The entire process was devastating.... ten hours of incarceration is ten hours too much. So, for a human being to be animalized for ten years, there is no quick fix to that.... It's like being shot by an assailant, and you are running away for your life. You didn't even realize you got shot in your leg because you are running on adrenaline. It's not until you get to a place of safety that you realize you have a hole in your leg, and you collapse.... When I came out I didn't even realize how wounded and devastated I was because I numbed myself to the pain and destruction that I suffered.

Post-deportation

In 2009, upon his return to Belize, he reconnected with his estranged father. In February 2010, the rapper was refused entry into the United Kingdom due to his conviction as a felon. He had begun his journey in Cancún, Mexico, but was deported upon arrival in the UK after immigration officials refused to allow him to enter the country.

Jerusalem

In 2010, Shyne moved to Jerusalem. In November 2010, he was living in Jerusalem, having become observant and legally changing his name to Moses Michael Levi. He spent his time learning the Torah, and spent up to 12 hours a day, studying it. He said that there was "nothing at odds between the hip-hop world and being a Torah-observant Jew", saying: "There's nothing in the Chumash that says I can't drive a Lamborghini." In Jerusalem, he underwent a formal conversion to Orthodox Judaism. He also prayed wearing Jewish ritual tefillin in the mornings, studied Talmud with rigorous strictly Orthodox rabbis at the Or Sameach, Belz, and Mir yeshivas, and grew payot (sidecurls; worn by some men in the Orthodox Jewish community based on their interpretation of the requirements of Jewish law). 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. He said: "My entire life screams that I have a Jewish neshama ["soul", in Hebrew]." In December 2011, almost 12 years after the initial shooting, back in New York City, Matthew "Scar" Allen was shot and killed outside of Brooklyn's Footprints nightclub. 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 March 2024, Natania Reuben, one of the three victims who had been shot during the December 27, 1999, nightclub shooting, recanted her statements on who shot her in the face, saying it was actually Sean Combs who shot her and not Shyne. She also alleged that Combs coerced her financially to testify through the trial that got Shyne convicted and Combs acquitted. She claims that Combs used force against her to testify that Shyne was the one who used the gun that shot her and the others by way of bribery and retaliation.

Return to Belize

In 2013, Shyne returned to Belize for the second time. He returned to the U.S. for a visit in August 2021. In March 2022, Shyne received a Doctorate of Humane Letters (honoris causa) from the University of Liberia for his life's work "as a Humanitarian, Musician, and Legislator."

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1374298036 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.