Biopic of Belizean rapper-turned-politician, Shyne, to be released in 2024

It is not uncommon for successful musical artists to broaden their interests into other industries. Leveraging their capital and considerable name recognition, even the most mundane and unimpressive product can become an overnight success. These jumpstarted ventures are often in fields at least symbiotic to the fast and furious life of a musical celebrity - namely fashion, film, or establishing their label to assert more control over the artistic process.

Far less common is the pivot to politics. But, not so much for Moses Michael Levi Barrow, best known as the rapper, Shyne. 

Shyne's Eventful Life

The Grammy Award-winning lyricist, turned leader of the Belize’s United Democratic Party (UDP), has lived an eventful life. Born in Belize City, Belize, Shyne was raised in Brooklyn, shot as a teenager, then became a bestselling rapper and writer in the United States, did prison time disproportionate to his crime, was deported, converted to Judaism, and is now competing to be the next Prime Minister of Belize.

It is a life worth crafting a screenplay about and thanks to a partnership between Disney subsidiary, ESPN, Shyne’s former record label, Rocnation, and his old friend Khaled Mohammed Khaled (best known as the record producer DJ Khaled), four projects are in the works to document Shyne’s life story. These include a bio-documentary, a scripted biopic, an upcoming television series, and a memoir. Speaking to HipHopDX, he promised that he would have a hand in crafting the soundtrack for at least the biopic project.

Shyne was born Jamal Michael Barrow in Belize to Frances Imeon Myvette and Dean Barrow. As a youth, he suffered a tumultuous relationship with his father who would later become Belize’s first Black prime minister. 

From Belize to Brooklyn

Like many other Caribbean immigrants, Shyne’s mother migrated with her son to Brooklyn under the promise of a better life. The reality was more stark. The two shared a claustrophobic apartment with Myvette cleaning homes and taking care of other children to make a living. Shyne fell into gang life, joining the Decepticons, named after the villains in the popular Transformers multimedia series.

At age 15, Shyne was shot in the right shoulder. This was the genesis of his first transformation and would begin a pattern of metamorphosis due to trauma. After graduating high school, he enrolled in a local computer program and worked as a bike messenger to make ends meet. With the lull of menial labor as his soundtrack, the young man would create rhymes and lyrics, scribbling on every surface he could find. Anyone with ears could tell how talented he was and soon he found himself in a room with Sean Combs, aka P.Diddy. The two became fast friends and Shyne signed with Combs’ label, Bad Boy Records.

While the talent was there, the money went through Shyne as if he was a turnstile. He typified the rapper stereotype. Multiple watches on one arm, a stable of luxury cars, and more jewels than your local jeweler. According to RolingStone, a labelmate walked in on the rapper trying to unjam an AK-47 assault rifle. Things came to a head in 1998, but not for the last time, and not even the only time involving a car, when Shyne totaled his car killing a friend in the process.

This ordeal traumatized the young man and seeped into his work. Many connoisseurs consider his output at this time to be the worst of his career. It is said that Combs himself had to intervene. Whatever was said, snapped Shyne out of his funk. He produced his most successful single, “Bad Boyz,” which featured Jamaican reggae artist Barrington Levy as supporting vocals. The track peaked at number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the leading single on the rapper’s eponymous record.

The turnaround and meteoric rise were short-lived. On December 27th, 2000, Shyne was in the news for all the wrong reasons. Out on the town with Sean Combs and then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, it is alleged that Combs fired a bullet in the air at a crowded nightclub during an altercation. It is further alleged that Shyne pulled out his own firearm and fired it. Three people were injured that night. Shyne was arrested outside the club while Combs’ and Lopez’s car was pulled over after a botched getaway. After a dramatic and well-publicized hearing, Shyne was found guilty by a Manhattan jury of assault, gun possession, and reckless endangerment. It’s a widely held belief that Shyne took the fall for Combs, and while he’d never admit to as much, even today, it earned him respect at the infamous Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York.

His Reincarnation & Conversion to Judaism

Shyne has labeled this chapter of his life ‘incarceration and reincarnation.’ The rapper converted to Judaism, reconnecting with his roots - his maternal grandmother was Jewish, an emigrant from Ethiopia to Belize. He fasted in prison, held Shabbat, and eventually relinquished his birth name for Moses Levi. Shyne was released on parole in 2009, but as an undocumented citizen, and now a documented felon, the rapper was deported to Belize with no hopes of returning to the States.

The artiste attempted to extend his musical career, even becoming the “musical ambassador” to Belize, but found himself out of touch with how the scene changed in the years he spent behind bars. He partook in a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to further his Jewish education, and later traveled to Paris to try and slot back into the fast life he was living before his sentence. Unsurprisingly, his new orthodox faith clashed with the extravagant lifestyle of a superstar musician and the artist returned to Belize with dreams of enacting political change. In 2020, Shyne was nominated to stand as a candidate for the Belize House of Representatives by the UDP. He became the leader of the UDP in June 2021.

Life as a Politician

While Moses Michael Levi Barrow’s three-piece suits and political machinations are a far cry from him posing shirtless and menacing at 22 years old for his eponymous album, politics have never been far from his mind. The difference now is perspective. Instead of rapping about day-to-day life and injustices from the ground level of Brooklyn, he’s trying to enact change that benefits Belizeans from the highest office.

Not everyone is convinced. While the former rapper has many supporters, they’re detractors that see him as part of the problem - another beneficiary of nepotism who will win office, claim the benefits, and leave day-to-day for the poorest in the country imperceptibly different. Only time will tell if Barrow’s political legacy will dwarf his artistic one.

In the meantime, many eagerly await the reenactment of Shyne’s compelling lifestory, which is slated for release sometime in 2024.