Shyne Deported to Belize Following Prison Release

Shyne has accepted "temporary deportation" to his native Belize, four weeks after being detained by immigration officials following his release from a nearly nine-year prison sentence for his involvement in a 1999 shooting at a New York club. MTV reports that Shyne's lawyer confirmed his client would return to the Central American country where he spent the first 13 years of his life; his father, Dean Barrow, is the nation's prime minister.

Shyne (born Jamal Barrow), who converted to Judaism and changed his name to Moses Levi during his incarceration, will reportedly work on his eventual return to the United States while in Belize. A Harvard professor named Charles Ogletree had been assisting Shyne during his recent immigration troubles and will continue to work with the rapper; Shyne's lawyer, Oscar Michelin, said his client had the option to "fight from detention or fight from freedom," meaning he could argue his U.S. citizenship while being detained or free in Belize, so he opted for the latter.

Shyne was found guilty after three people were injured during an incident at Club New York in 1999. Diddy also sat trial but was acquitted. Shyne later broke ties with Bad Boy crew following his sentencing, and he recently released an angry statement after Diddy gave an interview saying he had spoke with Shyne, reporting the MC was "in good spirits." "I want it known that this supposed conversation is a figment of Sean Combs' imagination," Shyne responded. "He never spoke with me, he never visited me nor would I ever accept a phone call or visit from him."

Related Stories:
• Shyne Says Call With Diddy Is "Figment of Sean Combs' Imagination"
• Shyne Sentenced to 10 Years

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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