Former Bad Boy rapper Moses “Shyne” Barrow reflects on his time in prison.
Speaking to PEOPLE at the premiere of his upcoming Hulu documentary, Dear ShyneBarrow — who spent eight years in prison after being involved in a shooting at a New York club with Sean “Diddy” Combs — opened up about the lessons he learned while in prison.
“I learned that the universe doesn’t touch people and that persistence is the way to power,” says Barrow, 46, candidly.
“So, the power of pain. World champions sacrifice themselves, world champions bleed. They go through tremendous pain,” he adds. “People who work at the top level go through so much that you don’t see.”
He also learned the “art of timing” – as well as “resilience”, “patience” and “strategy and calculation”.
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“I realized that 10 years is an investment in the next 20, 30 years. I didn’t stand still, hoping that time would just pass and then I would wake up and everything would be better,” explains Barrow. “I was present and I used everything I was going through as an investment in everything I have now.”
He concludes: “That’s why where I am, some people say: ‘How is he the opposition leader of the House of Representatives? How did he turn from this to that?’ I’ve been working on this for the last 26 years.”
Barrow, who serves as the leader of the opposition in the Belize House of Representatives, was convicted of first-degree assault in 1999 for a shooting at a New York nightclub that injured three people.
At the time, Combs, 55, was also charged with the shooting, but during the trial he said he fired the gun in self-defense and was acquitted of all charges.
Barrow, who was once Combs’ protégé, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2001 and released in 2009. He was subsequently deported back to Belize.
Shyne Barrow attends the world premiere of “The Honorable Shyne” on November 13, 2024 in New York City.
Jason Mendez/Getty
Former Bad Boy Rapper Shyne Barrow Breaks Silence After Diddy’s Arrest: ‘He Ruined My Life’
At a September press conference following Combs’ arrest in New York, Barrow shared his thoughts on the matter and accused the music mogul of “ruining” his life.
“When I was an 18-year-old kid, I just wanted to do nothing but make my mother proud and make Belize proud and be recognized for my talent and take over the world. I defended him, and he turned around and called witnesses to testify against me. He basically sent me to jail,” Barrow said, without providing details to back up his accusations.
“Let’s not lose sight of what the cold hard facts are. This is not someone I went on vacation with and someone I enjoyed this great, intimate relationship with. This is someone who ruined my life, and who I forgave, and to whom I moved on, and for the better interest of Belize because at that time he was in a position to give scholarships and maybe invest,” he continued. “I wouldn’t deny trying to invest in Belize and contribute to education.”
In the Hulu documentary, directed by Marcus A. Clarke, Barrow talks about the night of the shooting, the trial and life after prison where he was able to move on.
Dear Shyne premieres Monday, November 18 on Hulu.
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Source: HIS Education