Shyne Says Call With Diddy Is "Figment of Sean Combs' Imagination"

Two years after budding MC Shyne was sentenced to a decade in prison for the 1999 New York nightclub shooting that seriously injured two victims, he was dropped from Bad Boy by the man who escaped a guilty verdict in the case: Sean Combs. Shyne has since spoken out against Diddy, saying his former mentor betrayed him during the trial by hiring lawyers who didn't work to their full potential and supporting the testimony of witnesses Shyne believes weren't telling the truth (Diddy has denied these claims).

So when the Daily News quoted Diddy as recently telling Hot 97 he had spoken to Shyne who was "in good spirits," the now 30-year-old rapper was shocked. "I want it known that this supposed conversation is a figment of Sean Combs' imagination," he says in a statement. "He never spoke with me, he never visited me nor would I ever accept a phone call or visit from him. The only way I would do either of those things would be if he stepped up and did the right thing for the victims of the incident."

A $130 million civil lawsuit filed by victim Natania Reuben against Combs and Shyne is still pending in Brooklyn, New York. Shyne has maintained that he only fired a gun in Club New York on December 27, 1999 in self-defense after his crew (which included Diddy's then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez) were involved in an altercation with a man named Matthew "Scar" Allen. Shyne didn't take the stand during his trial, and served eight years for assault, reckless endangerment and gun possession. "I never meant to hurt nobody — I was afraid for my life," Shyne said at his sentencing in 2001. He has since changed his name to Moses Levi and remains in custody as officials decide whether he will be deported to Belize, where his father is the prime minister.

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Song Stories

“Is It True”

Brenda Lee | 1964

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."

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