As the 90s came to an end, Hip Hop saw the birth of the rapper tagged by XXL magazine back the as the last real rapper alive, Jamal Barrow AKA SHYNE PO. You could not be a Hip Hop fan and not know this dude back then, he came out with a BANG! everyone loved him, he impacted hardcore rap fans with his song ''BAD BOY'' and gave the commercial and party style Hip Hop lovers the song ''GET OUT''. For a short time the world felt that the Notorious B.I.G was reincarnated, and Shyne was generally accepted as Biggie's replacement as he was signed to BAD BOY records as well, unlike the other rapper dude Guerilla Black who sounded like Biggie but got no love from Piddy.
Unfortunately, Shyne's reign was cut short by a shooting incidence that happened in a club in Manhattan NY while he was hanging out with Diddy and his then girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, Shyne had a firearm and he discharged some shots during an altercation with some other clubbers who had issues with Diddy and his entourage, this led to the conviction of Shyne for attempted murder and reckless endangerment, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, this was a fatal blow for an artist who was about to release his debut album.
A lot of fans were devastated by the news and Shyne got a lot of sympathy from the Hip Hop community, all attempts to suspend his sentence proved abortive as Shyne himself kept his street credibility by not ''ratting out'' to the cops, he maintained his ''code of silence'' like a true mafia from the streets but the outcome led to the harsh sentence he received to the extent that he was handed the 'Son of Sam' law of New York, a law which resulted in his assets being frozen and limiting his ability to line up record deals and remain profitable. He managed to release his second album ''Godfather Buried Alive'' 2004 while in prison though the album sold over 400,000 copies, It was not the same quality as the previous album, perhaps it can be blamed on the fact that he voiced on the songs over the phone.
In October 2009 Shyne was released and then deported to his home country Belize. ( For the records,Shyne's father Dean Barrow has been the Prime Minister of Belize since 2008). This was another blow for Shyne who left Belize since he was 13. But the biggest blow Shyne received was the LOSS of his distinctive voice, that voice that made him SHYNE! He has been putting out tracks since after his release but nothing compared to his former style and voice. Shyne lost his lyrical bars behind bars, after 10 years no one would blame him for that, i mean alot has happened in such a long time, Hip Hop has evolved, even BAD BOY records is fighting hard to stay relevant as Piddy is living under his past glory. The rapper Shyne went to hell and is back but hell took his most prized possession, his vocal chord lost its sensational sound to the hard years of silence behind prison bars.
I believe that Shyne will regain some of his lost reputation, maybe not the exact voice but something we can vibe to, he may not be that shining star he once was as the competition these days is massive but i still believe with time he would hit the core of the music scene again with the right lines and the right producer. No doubt, Shyne Po is the still one of Hip Hop's 'BADDEST BOY' in terms of street credibility and when the time is right, the Godfather that was buried alive but refused to die while buried, will rise again and ascend back to the skies and continue to SHYNE !.
GO CHECK OUT THE ''GANGLAND'' MIXTAPE. THE LATEST FROM SHYNE PO
