Godfather Buried Alive [PA]

Performer: Shyne
Artist: Ashanti; Kurupt; Nate Dogg
Producer: Buck Wild; Brian Miller
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Shyne (rap vocals); Ashanti (vocals); Nate Dogg, Kurupt (rap vocals). As much as rappers boast about keeping it real, hip-hop, like most music, is about creating a fictional world. When real life bleeds in, the results are often tragic, like the well-documented end of the feud between 2Pac and Biggie Smalls. In the late-1990s, Brooklyn, New York teenager Shyne (Jamal Barrow) was heralded by many as the latter's heir, but after drawing his gun and firing during an incident involving Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Shyne found himself behind bars until 2009 on an attempted murder rap. With 2004's GODFATHER BURIED ALIVE, the gravel-voiced rapper's second record, Shyne finds his voice, rich, defiant, unrepentant, and powerful. On a self-titled track, Shyne boasts he's "gonna keep it gangsta 'til I die," and the rest of the disc backs up the claim. "Quasi O.G." tells his tale from a cleverly oblong perspective, relating the story with poetic panache and justifying the initial hype his rushed debut failed to capture. Shyne also finds a new angle to getting his digs in at his opponents on the enrapturing "For the Record." On GODFATHER BURIED ALIVE, Shyne proves that he owes his reputation to more than notoriety--he's a skilled lyricist capable of delivering powerful tracks.

Rolling Stone (p.78) - 3 stars out of 5 - "As a rapper, Shyne has got loads going for him - a hypnotic, gelatinous vocal tone that sounds less like Biggie with each listen." Entertainment Weekly (p.125) - "Shyne's Tupac-esque reflections on honor and mortality are penetrating, and suggest there are greater meditations yet to be unleashed." - Grade: B+

Shyne became Puff Daddy's prodigy in the wake of the Notorious B.I.G.'s passing. With a voice and rhyme-style similar to "Biggie," Shyne signed a lucrative deal with Puffy's Bad Boys Records in 1998. However, later that year Shyne was arrested on attempted murder charges resulting from a shooting at a New York nightclub. The release of his self-titled debut was delayed until late 2000. The next year, Shyne was indicted and began serving a ten-year sentence. From prison, Shyne released a second album, GODFATHER BURIED ALIVE, on Def Jam Records. The uneven album found some success, but for the most part Shyne's life and career seem to be in limbo.

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