Scantily clad women writhing to the beat are part of the formula for almost any music video, but rapper Shyne prefers to see women more modestly attired, preferably with their arms and hair covered.
That might make him a minority of one in the rap world, but as a black Orthodox Jew who comfortably sports an outfit that has its basis in 19th-century eastern Europe, Shyne has no qualms about being different.
He can lay claim to at least three names: his rap moniker Shyne, his birth name Jamal Michael Barrow, and the name he now uses to introduce himself to admirers in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City — Moses Levi.
Photo: AFP
And he happily mixes the patois of the Brooklyn streets with the language of the Torah, interchanging phrases like “You dig?” with Jewish terminology: “Hashem,” meaning God, and Shomer Shabbas,” for the observance of Shabbat.
He might seem like a walking contradiction, but Shyne could be charting himself a highly unusual path back into the music business, 10 years after it seemed his short-lived but promising rap career was over.
In 1999, he was the protege of superstar rapper Sean Combs, better known then as Puff Daddy.
The pair were at a nightclub with Combs’ then girlfriend Jennifer Lopez when Shyne spotted some people he was convinced were there to hurt him.
“Somebody was trying to kill me, Combs and Jennifer Lopez, so I gotta defend myself,” he said.
“I had a gun because, 30 days before that, I was going to the studio and I got shot at ... and once somebody shot at me in front of the studio, I went and got a gun, that’s the only way I know.”
In the retelling, with Shyne wearing the religious garb preferred by Orthodox Jews, including a knitted skullcap, short trousers, and a pinstriped overcoat, the story seems almost unlikely.
But at the time, the incident made headlines around the world, and while Combs was acquitted of any violence, Shyne ended up with a 10-year prison sentence for assault, gun possession, and reckless endangerment.
In the nightclub gunfight, he was accused of firing directly at people, although he denied this and said he shot in the air.
He admits feeling some bitterness, particularly as he was already religious at the time, praying and fasting, though without a specific framework.
“I said to myself, why I am in prison, why me, why not the other guy? I pray all the time, I’m fasting,” he said.
But he came to see the time as a chance to learn more about Judaism, inspired by the Biblical stories his grandmother had told him.
“I was always praying to the God my grandmother taught me about, which is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses... all those Biblical heroes.”
Gradually he became an observant Jew, keeping kosher, observing the Sabbath and wearing a skullcap for his daily prayers.
It was an unconventional turn of events for a man with an already unusual past, born out of wedlock in Belize to a mother who moved him to Brooklyn, New York, away from his father Dean Barrow, now Belize’s prime minister.
But he liked the structure and confidence his newfound religious framework provided, and upon his release from prison opted to come to Israel to study the faith further and resume his recording career.
Most days he can be found praying or studying at a yeshiva — a gender-segregated religious school.
The quiet, all-male environment is a far cry from his pre-prison days, when he sang expletive-laden tunes about “slinging in the streets” as amply endowed women in denim hot pants shimmied around him.
But his new music has not been scrubbed of references to his old life, and he isn’t following in the footsteps of Orthodox reggae sensation Matisyahu.
“I’m not making Torah raps, I love Matisyahu, I think he’s a great singer, but I’m not making Hasidic rap, I’m still talking about poor people in Brooklyn.”
And despite his religious garb, which Orthodox Jews wear as a nod to humility, Shyne wears Ray-Ban sunglasses, a gold watch and drops references to shoe designer Christian Louboutin in a new song.
With his move to Israel, he is trying to understand the political situation, although he admits he finds it “very complicated.”
“I pray that there’s a Palestinian state,” he says. “I definitely don’t like anybody trying to strap a bomb to themselves ... But at the same time I don’t believe women and children should starve and suffer.
“It’s complicated, it’s very complicated. This is not a black and white question, so all I can do is pray.”
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist