57 Facts About Shyne

Shyne served as Leader of the Opposition in the Belize House of Representatives, and the leader of the Belize United Democratic Party.

Shyne continued to record music while incarcerated, eventually releasing his sophomore studio album, Godfather Buried Alive, under Def Jam Recordings in 2004.

Shyne returned to Belize in 2013, and was appointed the Belize Music and Goodwill Ambassador, charged with the sustainable development of the music industry in Belize, and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop it.

Shyne was elected to the Belizean House of Representatives in the 2020 general election, as a member of the center-right United Democratic Party.

Shyne was born Jamal Michael Barrow, in Belize City, Belize, a respective city and country in Central America, to mother Frances Imeon Myvette and father Dean Barrow, who were not married.

Shyne's mother is the sister of Michael Myvett, now going by the surname Finnegan, one of Dean Barrow's long-time political colleagues in Belize.

Shyne's mother supported them by cleaning homes and taking care of children, and he slept on the sofa in their small apartment on Church Avenue and East 18th Street.

Shyne paid for his tuition by working as a bike messenger, buying an 18-speed bicycle and riding it from Brooklyn over the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, where he made deliveries around the borough.

Shyne left NYC College of Technology to pursue a career in music.

Not long after, Shyne made guest appearances on recordings with other labelmates.

Shyne was notably featured on Mase's second album, Double Up, and on remixes of Total's "Sittin' at Home" and 112's "Anywhere".

Shyne's self-titled debut album was recorded prior to the rapper's arrest in relation the December 1999 nightclub shooting.

For one instance, in 1999, after finishing a studio session at the now-closed Daddy's House, an in-house recording studio for Bad Boy, Shyne was shot at by affiliates of group member Lil' Cease.

The incident provoked Shyne to carry a firearm around him for protection.

In 2002, after beginning his incarceration, Shyne parted ways with Bad Boy and ended all contact with Combs soon after.

On February 16,2010, four months after being deported to Belize, Shyne signed another seven-figure deal with Def Jam.

Shyne later announced that he was recording two albums that were planned for release throughout 2010, after Def Jam approached him to sign a distribution agreement.

In November 2010, Cash Money co-founder Bryan "Birdman" Williams said that Shyne's deportation had stalled his planned Cash Money deal, as it prevented him from appearing in the United States.

Shyne rapped during Matisyahu's set for "King Without a Crown".

Shyne shouted "Free Jonathan Pollard, free Gilad Shalit" to applause before exiting the stage.

Matisyahu and Shyne discussed collaborating more frequently in the future, but never happened.

In December 2011, Shyne said signing to Cash Money Records was "still a possibility".

On September 26,2012, the day of the twelfth anniversary of his debut album's release, Shyne released Gangland, as a mixtape.

Shyne called out Rick Ross, due to his blasphemous Black Bar Mitzvah mixtape, as well as Jewish-Canadian rapper Drake.

Shyne recorded diss tracks towards Diddy, Swag Blanket's DLSupreme and 50 Cent.

Shyne responded with "For the Record", a track he recorded via a prison phone for Godfather Buried Alive.

Shyne received criticism for his remarks by Lamar's fans, and other California rappers including Schoolboy Q and Nipsey Hussle.

Shyne's comments involved him in a feud with The Game.

In May 2010, Shyne was appointed the Belize Music and Goodwill Ambassador.

In 2020, Shyne was nominated by the center-right Belize 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.

Shyne returned to the US for a state visit in August 2021, meeting with US politicians.

Prosecutors charged that after Allen's accomplice threw money at Combs, the two men and Shyne all drew guns.

Shyne was accused by prosecutors as was Combs of drawing a gun in the confrontation.

Shyne was accused of firing three shots that wounded three people.

Shyne maintained that he had fired into the air, and did not believe that it was bullets from his gun that injured the bystanders.

Shyne 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.

Shyne was sentenced on June 1,2001, to ten years in prison, without eligibility for parole until 2009.

Shyne served nearly nine years in New York state prisons.

Shyne began serving his sentence at the maximum security prison Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York.

Shyne had already been studying Judaism at the time of his arrest.

Shyne formally converted to Orthodox Judaism in Jerusalem, Israel, in 2010.

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.

Shyne was transferred to Rikers Island where he was held for a parole hearing, and then to the Woodbourne Correctional Facility, where he spent the last months of his incarceration.

Shyne had served more than 9 years of a 10-year sentence, on which no terms for post-release supervision had originally been placed.

On October 6,2009, Shyne was released from New York state custody, but was immediately taken into federal custody.

Shyne was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a "detention facility in western New York state".

Shyne had a permanent resident "green card", and his mother was a US citizen, but he had never become a naturalized citizen.

Shyne revealed that Shyne and his representatives had been expecting to be intercepted by ICE officials upon his release, and had directed members of his legal team to prepare the necessary documents in an effort to address the situation.

Dean Barrow, Belize's Prime Minister and Shyne's father, sent a petition to former New York state governor David Paterson, asking him to pardon his son.

Shyne had begun his journey in Cancun, Mexico, but was deported upon arrival in the UK after immigration officials refused to allow him to enter the country.

Shyne spent his time learning the Torah, and spent up to 12 hours a day, studying it.

Shyne 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.

Shyne had studied seriously with rabbis while in prison, and adopted the Jewish laws to create boundaries and order in his life.

Shyne officially changed his name to Moses Levi to reflect his commitment to Judaism.

Shyne alleged that Combs coerced her financially to testify through the trial that got Shyne convicted and Combs acquitted.

In 2013, Shyne returned to Belize for the second time.

Shyne returned to the US for a visit in August 2021.