Former Bad Boy rapper turned politician to visit US lawmakers

Shyne, a former Bad Boy rapper turned Belizean politician, is set to visit U.S. lawmakers this week to help strengthen the development of his native country. 

“Good evening everyone, I departed Belize for an official visit to the United States today,” he shared in an Instagram post on Sunday.

“I’ll be meeting with Members of the U.S. Congress as well as State Senators and House Members to strengthen relationships and establish new relationships to further the development of Belize.” 

This comes as Shyne, whose real name is Jamal Michael Barrow, was appointed to be the new leader of the conservative opposition party in Belize after the fallout of former leader Patrick Faber, who was seen on video threatening to attack the mother of his 2-year-old daughter.

Barrow, whose father served as prime minister of the country, recently held a seat in Belize’s House of Representatives for a year before gaining his new role. 

Barrow became a well-known name in hip-hop in the late 1990s and early 2000s as mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ protege under his Bad Boy Records label. He was involved in the infamous 1999 Club New York nightclub shooting where an argument between Combs and a partygoer led to a shootout that injured three people. 

The “Bonnie and Shyne” singer, whose 2000 self-titled debut album went platinum in sales, was convicted on two counts of assault, reckless endangerment and gun possession a year later and sentenced to 10 years in prison for his involvement in the shooting. 

Barrow, 42, was released from prison in 2009 and was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and deported back to his native country as a noncitizen felon.