Shyne retired from the rap game some time ago, and now he’s broadening his horizon striving deeper into the political sector in his current home country of Belize.
On Thursday November 12, the Belizean rapper took to his Instagram account to announce that he had won the Mesopotamia seat in the House of Representatives for Belize City. According to the National Assembly of Belize’s official website, that makes him the 32nd representative
“FROM HIP HOP TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES!!!,” he wrote in the IG caption. Thank you MESOPOTAMIA!!! It is with the greatest humility that I accept this victory for us! We won today! This victory is for all those who are just like me in Mesopotamia, Belize and the world over! All those who have taken a fall! All those who have stumbled on their life’s journey.”
Shyne, born Jamal Barrow, then offered a positive affirmation for the people of his city. “We all fall!,” he continued. “But to get up and walk, run and rise again is the purpose of life! We are all destined to be challenged but we are all capable of overcoming those challenges! My story is testament of human fortitude! We all have what I have! We just have to dig deep within and find it! I hope I inspire everyone to overcome their adversities and find their greatness!.”
He succeeds his uncle, Michael Finnegan, the brother of the rapper’s mother, as the new representative for the Belize House of Representatives from the Mesopotamia constituency.
In 2004, the rapper dropped his last official album, Godfather Buried Alive, sixteen years ago. The LP was released while Shyne was incarcerated on a 10-year prison sentence for being convicted on two counts of assault, reckless endangerment and gun possession for the Dec. 27, 1999, shootings in Club New York in New York City that left three people injured.
Diddy who was hanging out with his then-heartthrob Jennifer Lopez were also at the club that evening. Diddy was taken into custody but acquitted at trial of gun and bribery charges related to the incident. Shyne, who also repped Brooklyn, was signed to Bad Boy Records.
Following the “Bonnie & Shyne” rhymer’s release from prison in 2009, he was deported to Belize, where he was born. Apparently, he had a green card, but hadn’t become a naturalized citizen in the United States. His father, Dean Barrow, is the Prime Minister for Belize
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