Ex-bad boy elected to Belize parliament
In this photo taken Thursday Nov. 11, 2010, U.S. rapper Jamal
“Shyne” Barrow gestures during an interview with the
Associated Press in Jerusalem. Associated Press/Tara
Todras-Whitehill, fi le
Caribbean Life, Nov. 27-Dec. 3, 2020 11
When Sean Combs recruited
rappers Shyne and Biggy
Smalls to his Bad Boy Records
stable of east coast hip-hop
rivals to the Californiadominated
Billboard Music
chart-toppers in the 1990s he
unknowingly signed a future
member of Parliament and an
inductee to the Rock ‘N Roll
Hall Of Fame.
Ironically both music recorders
exceeded expectations days
apart in the same pandemic
month and year of 2020.
Initially known as Jamal
“Shyne” Barrow the rapper
resided in East Flatbush,
Brooklyn with his mother who
brought him from Belize when
he was eight-years-old.
Forced back to the Central
American nation in 2009 after
serving jail time for convictions
related to assault, he returned
home to surpass expectations
winning a seat on Nov. 11 in his
county’s House of Parliament.
Now known as Moses Michael
Levi Barrow, the 42-year-old
former rapper converted to
orthodox Judaism while incarcerated.
“FROM HIP-HOP TO THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,”
that was the bold
announcement the elected legislator
posted on his Instagram
account.
“It is with the greatest humility
that I accept this victory…,”
he continued, “this victory is
for all those who have taken a
fall!! All those who have stumbled
on their life’s journey.
“We all fall!!! But to get up
and walk, run and rise again is
the purpose of life…”
Barrow fell from grace after
an evening of partying with
Combs and Jennifer Lopez in
Manhattan ended in a shooting
spree.
The rapper took the fall and
after serving 10 years in prison
was deported to his birthplace.
“I hope I inspire everyone to
overcome their adversities and
find greatness,” Barrow added.
Combs had endorsed the
political run and from the early
announcement sent kudos to
the former teenager he signed
to his Bad Boy Record label.
Comprised of rhyme and reason
Shyne delivered “Bad Boyz”
a track that won wide acclaim
earning Billboard chart success.
“I’m so proud of my brother
and the journey he is on”
Combs posted on social media.
The Barrow gene pool could
be blessed with politics and
servitude, Shyne’s father Dean
made history when he was
elected the first Black prime
minister of Belize in 2008. To
be celebrated the same year
America claimed a similar
identity, the Barrow name is
inscribed in perpetuity.
And although he lost his
bid to remain prime minister
this year, the Barrow dynasty
continues with sister Denise
“Sista B” also winning a place
at the seat of the Belizean government.
With 31 seats in the House of
representatives, and 81 percent
of the electorates voting for the
United Democratic Party’s candidate
Shyne replaced an uncle
who retired.
B.I.G BIGGER GIVEN
“LIFE AFTER DEATH”
“Brooklyn we did it!” Volletta
Wallace said after hearing her
son Christopher George Latore
Wallace would be inducted to
the 2020 class of the Rock &
Roll Hall of Fame.
Twenty-five years after he
released his debut studio album
“Ready To Die” the Jamaican
mother ecstatically expressed
joy that the prestigious Hall of
music bestowed luminary status
to the rapper acclaimed for
being King of New York.
Catch You On The Inside!
Inside Life
By Vinette K. Pryce
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