Shyne
Encyclopedia
Moshe Levi Ben-David better known by his stage name Shyne, is a Belizean
Belizean
Belizean may refer to:* Something of, or related to Belize* A person from Belize, or of Belizean descent. For information about the Belizean people, see Demographics of Belize and Culture of Belize. For specific Belizeans, see List of Belizeans....

 rapper.

Background

Shyne was born in Belize City, Belize, the son of Dean Barrow
Dean Barrow
Dean Oliver Barrow is Prime Minister of Belize and leader of the United Democratic Party. An attorney by trade, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 1998 and was then Leader of the Opposition until the UDP won the February 2008 election...

, the current Prime Minister of Belize. Shyne has only reluctantly acknowledged him as his father, due to his father publicly stating that Shyne was "unwanted". His mother is the sister of Michael Finnegan
Michael Finnegan (Belizean politician)
Michael Kwame Finnegan is a Belizean politician and a member of the United Democratic Party. He is currently Minister of Housing and Urban Development in Prime Minister Dean Barrow's cabinet and a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Mesopotamia Electoral Division in Belize...

, one of Barrow's long-time political colleagues.
Shyne remained behind with his uncle in Belize City when his mother moved to the US. It was not until the age of 13 when she was able to bring him with her to Brooklyn's Vanderveer Estates in East Flatbush (now known as 'Flatbush Gardens').

Early career and Bad Boy Records

In 1998, while Shyne was freestyling in a barbershop with friend J.CABA, hip hop producer Clark Kent noticed something unique in Shyne's voice. He sounded to him very similar to the late Notorious B.I.G.. At the time, Clark Kent was working on B.I.G.'s posthumous "Born Again
Born Again (The Notorious B.I.G. album)
Born Again is a posthumous album by The Notorious B.I.G.. It was released on December 7, 1999. Unlike the first album released after his death , this album was created with no input from Biggie himself...

" album.

Not long after, Shyne started making appearances on recordings made by Bad Boy Records
Bad Boy Records
Bad Boy Records is a record label founded in 1993 by producer/rapper/entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, and is distributed by Atlantic Records.-Beginnings:...

 artists. He notably featured on a remix of Total's "Sittin At Home" track and on Mase
Mase
Mason Durell Betha , better known by stage name Mase who was previously known as Murda Ma$e, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor and inspirational speaker...

's second album Double Up
Double Up (Mase album)
Double Up is the second studio album by Harlem rapper Mase, released in 1999 and distributed by Bad Boy Records. The album sold 107,000 copies in its first week, debuting at #11. Shortly after the release, Mase quit rap to become a Christian pastor....

, on the track entitled "From Scratch". In the same year he featured on Bad Boy Records
Bad Boy Records
Bad Boy Records is a record label founded in 1993 by producer/rapper/entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, and is distributed by Atlantic Records.-Beginnings:...

' chief executive Sean Combs
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...

' Forever
Forever (Puff Daddy album)
Forever is the debut solo studio album by American rapper and producer Puff Daddy released on August 24, 1999 in North America by Bad Boy Entertainment, with a release in the United Kingdom the following day on August 25, 1999...

, as well as on a remix of P.E. 2000.

Club New York shooting

On December 27, 1999, Shyne and then girlfriend Monay Hawkins, who was with Sean Combs and Combs' then girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...

, was involved in a shooting at a Manhattan club which left three people injured. As a result the 20-year-old rapper, whose debut album was pending release, was charged with and convicted of attempted murder, assault, and reckless endangerment. This led to rumours about Shyne's position at Bad Boy records and doubts about whether his debut album was ever going to be released.

Incarceration

On June 1, 2001, Shyne was sentenced to ten years in prison. He began serving his sentence at the maximum security prison Clinton Correctional Facility
Clinton Correctional Facility
Clinton Correctional Facility is a New York State Department of Correctional Services state prison for men located in the Village of Dannemora, New York. The prison itself is sometimes colloquially referred to as Dannemora, although its actual name is derived from its location in Clinton County,...

 in Dannemora
Dannemora (village), New York
Dannemora is a village located primarily in the Town of Dannemora in Clinton County, New York. The population was 3,936 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from Dannemora, Sweden, an iron-making town where early settlers came from ....

. This seemed to spell the end of his rap career and his legal team's attempts to appeal for a suspended sentence ultimately failed. Rumors that he had severed all ties with Sean Combs and Bad Boy Records proved later to be true.

He had his name legally changed, in early March 2006, from his birthname of Jamal Michael Barrow to Moses Michael Levi to reflect his grandmother's Jewish heritage
Beta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...

. Just days later he was in court again to challenge New York's application of the 'Son of Sam' law
Son of Sam law
A Son of Sam Law is any American law designed to keep criminals from profiting from the publicity of their crimes, often by selling their stories to publishers. However, this is not in the same manner of asset forfeiture, which is intended to seize assets acquired directly as a result of criminal...

, a law which resulted in his assets being frozen and limiting his ability to line up record deals and remain profitable. He and his lawyers argued that allowing him to make deals with record producers would also increase the value of a potential settlement with the victims involved in the night club shooting.

Despite his crimes, his incarceration drew many sympathizers, as well as the admiration of many in the hip hop community. His adherence to the code of silence
Conspiracy of silence (expression)
The expression conspiracy of silence, or culture of silence, relates to a condition or matter which is known to exist, but by tacit communal unspoken consensus is not talked about or acknowledged. Commonly such matters are considered culturally shameful...

, which he made reference to numerous times on his self-titled debut album, earned him a hardcore reputation in both the prison community as well as on the streets. Even while incarcerated, his name continued to be linked with several record labels. However, he was not without his detractors; fellow New York rapper 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...

 even went so far as to call him a punk and made light of his situation and his involvement in the "night club incident". Shyne responded in kind on his 2004 release Godfather Buried Alive, with a track entitled "For the Record".

Release and deportation

On August 4, 2009, Shyne was released to his former producer Nick Dahms. A Manhattan judge signed the order that would schedule Shyne for release on October 6, 2009. Having served over 9 years of a 10 year sentence on which no terms for post-release supervision had originally been placed; at the request of the Correction Department
New York State Department of Correctional Services
The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision or NYSDOCCS is the agency of New York State responsible for the care, confinement, and rehabilitation of approximately 63,000 inmates at 71 correctional facilities funded by the State of New York. The department employs...

 the recent re-sentencing calls for a mandatory probation period of at least two and half years. Shyne and his attorney, Oscar Michelen had initially hoped to avoid this, with Shyne labeling it as being akin to "extra jail time". However Michelen did allow that the state was well within its rights.
He was then transferred to the Woodbourne Correctional Facility
Woodbourne Correctional Facility
Woodbourne Correctional Facility is a medium security men's prison operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services in Woodbourne, New York of Sullivan County...

, where he spent the last months of his incarceration, from Rikers Island
Rikers Island
Rikers Island is New York City's main jail complex, as well as the name of the island on which it sits, in the East River between Queens and the mainland Bronx, adjacent to the runways of LaGuardia Airport. The island itself is part of the borough of the Bronx, though it is included as part of...

 where he had awaited his parole hearing.

There was considerable anticipation for his release in hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

 and mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....

 media alike. On October 6, 2009, Shyne was released from New York State custody. However upon his release, Shyne was immediately apprehended into Federal custody. It became public knowledge a few hours following his apparent release that he had been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security , responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation's border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security...

 at a then "undisclosed detention facility in Western New York State". At least one source revealed that the facility in question was the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia
Batavia (city), New York
Batavia is a city in Genesee County, Western New York, USA, located near the middle of Genesee County, entirely within the Town of Batavia. Its population as of the 2000 census was 16,256...

. According to his attorney, Oscar Michelen, Federal officials were reviewing the rapper's immigration status and making a determination on whether or not he would be deported to his native Belize. He went on to clarify that Shyne was in possession of a "green card" but had never been naturalized
Naturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....

. There was some speculation that Shyne might have been released on bail in the US while his case was being resolved. However there was no real indication that a bail was ever set or notification of any change in his official status.

Although statements from his family in Belize and the US remained positive, according to Shyne's uncle, Michael Finnegan
Michael Finnegan (Belizean politician)
Michael Kwame Finnegan is a Belizean politician and a member of the United Democratic Party. He is currently Minister of Housing and Urban Development in Prime Minister Dean Barrow's cabinet and a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Mesopotamia Electoral Division in Belize...

, preparations had been made in the event that the rapper was sent back to Belize. He also revealed that Shyne and his representatives had been expecting to be intercepted by ICE officials upon his release and had deferred members of his legal team to prepare the necessary documents in an effort to deal with this situation. Shortly into the developing ordeal, Dean Barrow
Dean Barrow
Dean Oliver Barrow is Prime Minister of Belize and leader of the United Democratic Party. An attorney by trade, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 1998 and was then Leader of the Opposition until the UDP won the February 2008 election...

, Belize's Prime Minister and Shyne's estranged father, sent a petition to New York Governor David Paterson
David Paterson
David Alexander Paterson is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of New York, from 2008 to 2010. During his tenure he was the first governor of New York of African American heritage and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state after Bob C. Riley, who was Acting...

 to pardon his son. In 2008 Governor Paterson pardoned rapper Slick Rick
Slick Rick
Richard Walters , better known by his stage name Slick Rick is a Grammy-nominated English-American rapper...

 who, in a similar situation, also faced deportation. Barrow stated that he'd been assured that the Governor received his letter and that it was under consideration, but that he did not expect to have any influence in swaying the decision. The family also indicated that they had sought the assistance of Charles Ogletree
Charles Ogletree
Charles J. Ogletree is Jesse Climenko Professor at Harvard Law School, the founder of the school's Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, and the author of numerous books on legal topics....

, a Harvard Law professor who is known for being a mentor to President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 and a part of his inner circle. On October 15, 2009 Michael Finnegan released a statement indicating that all legal matters regarding the case had been turned over to Ogletree entirely. The decision was apparently agreed to by all concerned members of Shyne's family.

By October 22, 2009 most publications were indicating that a final decision had been reached and, barring a last minute pardon from Governor Paterson, Shyne would be deported back to Belize. Shyne was deported back to Belize on Wednesday October 28, 2009 though he continued to fight for residency in the United States.

He is now living in Jerusalem as an Orthodox Jew under his new name, Moses Levi. He reportedly spends his time learning the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

 and is planning a comeback.

In February 2010, the rapper was refused entry into the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 due to his criminal past. He had commenced his journey in Cancun
Cancún
Cancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...

, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, but was deported upon arrival in the UK after immigration officials refused to allow him to enter the country. On February 16, 2010, Shyne signed a seven figure deal with Def Jam Records. Gangland & Messiah, are scheduled to be released in the fall of 2011, and they will be his first studio albums since his release from prison in late 2009.
Shyne made a surprise guest appearance in the Matisyahu
Matisyahu
Matthew Paul Miller , better known by his Hebrew name and stage name Matisyahu, is an American Hasidic Jewish reggae and alternative rock musician....

 / 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
Jonathan Pollard
Jonathan Jay Pollard worked as a civilian intelligence analyst before being convicted of spying for Israel. He received a life sentence in 1987....

, Free Gilad Shalit
Gilad Shalit
Gilad Shalit is an Israeli – French citizen and Israel Defense Forces soldier. On 25 June 2006, he was captured inside Israel by Hamas militants in a cross-border raid via underground tunnels near the border with Gaza. The Hamas militants held him for over five years, until he was released on...

” to thunderous applause before he exited the stage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j2HXyMjrEk
In July 2011 Shyne was confirmed to have signed a deal with Cash Money Records
Cash Money Records
Cash Money Records is a record label founded by brothers Bryan "Birdman" Williams and Ronald "Slim" Williams. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and is distributed by Universal Republic Records as of 2011...

. Shyne appears on the track Outro from Lil Wayne's
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...

 ninth studio album Tha Carter IV
Tha Carter IV
Tha Carter IV is the ninth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released on August 29, 2011 through Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Universal Republic Records...

, along with Bun B
Bun B
Bernard Freeman better known by his stage name Bun B, is an American rapper and was one half of the southern hip hop duo UGK . He is also a guest lecturer at Rice University located in Houston, Texas...

, Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...

, and Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...

.

Solar Energy

Shyne recently released a new song entitled “Solar Energy”. The rap was written with Arava Power Company
Arava Power Company
David Rosenblatt of New Jersey, Ed Hofland of Kibbutz Ketura, and Yosef Abramowitz founded the Arava Power Company on Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava Valley in 2006. APC has declared that its mission is to supply Israel with 10% of its energy needs through clean, renewable solar energy. On June 5,...

’s president, Yosef Abramowitz, in honor of the inauguration of Ketura Sun
Ketura Sun
Ketura Sun is Israel’s first commercial solar field. Built in early 2011 by the Arava Power Company on Kibbutz Ketura, Ketura Sun covers twenty acres and is expected to produce green energy amounting to 4.95 megawatts. The field consists of 18,500 photovoltaic panels made by Suntech, which will...

, the first solar field in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. Shyne premiered the song on June 5, 2011, at the Ketura Sun launch.

Albums

  • Shyne
    Shyne (album)
    Shyne is the self-titled debut album by rapper Shyne with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records and was released on September 26, 2000. Shyne had been hyped prior to the album's release as similar in style and delivery to the deceased Notorious B.I.G....

    (2000
    1999 in music
    -Events:*January 7**After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation.**Paul McCartney attends the first of his stepdaughter Heather's first housewares collection in Georgia....

    )
  • Godfather Buried Alive
    Godfather Buried Alive
    Godfather Buried Alive is the second studio album by rapper Shyne. Shyne who was incarcerated at the time, was in the middle of serving a 10 year jail sentence for a shooting in New York City. It was released August 10, 2004 off Def Jam. The album included 13 tracks, 12 of which were previously...

    (2004
    2004 in music
    See also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....

    )
  • Gangland (2012
    2012 in music
    2012 in music may refer to:*2012 in African music*2012 in American music*2012 in Australian music*2012 in British music*2012 in Canadian music*2012 in European music *2012 in Irish music*2012 in Japanese music...

    )
  • Messiah (2012
    2012 in music
    2012 in music may refer to:*2012 in African music*2012 in American music*2012 in Australian music*2012 in British music*2012 in Canadian music*2012 in European music *2012 in Irish music*2012 in Japanese music...

    )

External links

  • [ Shyne] at Allmusic
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