From Convict to Diplomat… 
A Barrow Success Story!
The decision to make Moses Leviy, or Jamal Barrow or Shyne, as he is more popularly known Music Ambassador of Belize was no doubt the brainchild of Mr. Barrow, the father of Moses/Jamal/Shyne and the leader of the nation. Notwithstanding the fact that the ‘appointment’ was orchestrated to coincide with Mr. Barrow being out of the country, the move smacks of his trademark nepotism agenda tempered with arrogance and with a healthy dose of contempt and disdain for the opinions of anybody else.
This is no personal attack on Moses/Jamal/Shyne. As has been stated elsewhere in this paper, the youth means nothing more to us than any other convicted criminal/deportee. He is no different from any born Belizean who went abroad, committed a violent act, served time and was then deported home. Perhaps the only slight difference is that if Shyne had his wish, he would never have returned to Belize. In fact, his attorneys tried vehemently to stop his deportation to our small nation. But this is not about Shyne.
There is no Belize or Belizean serving rationale behind the appointment of Shyne as Music Ambassador. The youth left Belize at an early age and by all accounts became a certified member of the thug life. He gained popularity through the musical promotion of sex, drugs, guns and violence and the lyrics to all his songs express that in the most obscene and offensive of terms. He was arrested for a firearm related offense and spent almost ten years in prison. Upon being released he was deported to Belize (not by choice) and recently signed a multi-million dollar deal which means that he will spend most of his time in London or Europe busting out the same lyrics and messages which gained him his early popularity.
In Belize Shyne has lived the high life, first renting out an entire floor of Belize’s largest hotel and then moving into an exclusive luxury penthouse apartment where he now resides. His interaction with Belizeans has been limited to one or two orchestrated appearances at schools and the central prison. That’s it.
And now out of the blue, or more accurately the red, Mr. Shyne Barrow is now a bona fide diplomat, Belize’s Music Ambassador and the man in charge of the Music Department at NICH. He will be responsible for spearheading the music programs at schools countrywide.
The Belize Times is highly skeptical of the appointment of Shyne Barrow. His music is not Belizean music. He has no knowledge of Belizean music, of the richness of Belizean culture. This paper is skeptical of the reaction from other countries, who upon learning of Shyne’s appointment will Google his music to see just what he is representing.
Andy Palacio was Belize’s Cultural Ambassador and served the post with distinction. He almost singlehandedly took Belize onto the world stage. His accomplishments were many and his legend will live on. He was a man who lived and breathed Belizean music and culture. After his passing, Poots ‘Titiman’ Flores was named the Music Ambassador. He was and is another giant on the Belizean music scene, a son of the soil who has made the promotion of our culture and music his life.
Shyne Barrow can claim no such distinction, no such commitment to Belize, no such familiarity with Belizeans music and culture. The appointment, which seems to have been based only on the merit of the youth’s last name, is a slap in the faces of those all those musical legends who have given and continue to give their lives to Belize.
The Belize Times has been reliable informed that Shyne Barrow’s appointment will not be an honorary one. Sources within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reveal that he will be accorded full diplomatic status, complete with a diplomatic passport. We have not yet been able to verify how much he will be paid or the extent of his compensation package including perks.
Shyne’s appointment comes at a time when local radio stations have been taking the initiative of banning explicitly violent lyrics from the airwaves in an attempt to curb the violence on our streets. So as the nation claims that that type of music is not okay, Mr. Barrow has seen fit to appoint his son, whose only claim to fame are those very same lyrics, as Music ambassador to Belize. Mr. Barrow will regret this decision, we have no doubt.
http://www.belizetimes.bz/2010/04/23/from-convict-to-diplomat%E2%80%A6/ Unacceptable!
The son of the Prime Minister, the gangster rapper known as Shyne or more recently as Moses Leviy, has been named the Music Ambassador of Belize. On Friday our very own Attorney-General and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sedi Elrington stood beside Shyne and told the nation that the young man will be heading NICH’s music program in schools across the nation. Look, we have nothing against Shyne. He’s a non-entity to us, really. But seriously, has anybody listened to Shyne’s lyrics? The raw, raunchy, explicitly obscene sexual and violent lyrics are his trademark – that’s where he got his fame within a certain clique. But what the hell does that have to do with Belize and Belizean music? Our Music Ambassador should be somebody who promotes and enhances our music, our culture. Shyne has no idea about our culture and our music. This is a bad decision and an insult to the many exception musicians who have dedicated decades of their lives to the Belizean product. And we’re not even touching the fact that Shyne is a deportee who was sent back to Belize after serving almost ten years for a violent crime. What other qualification does he possess? Seriously! How can Shyne be an example to our children when his lyrics promote the same violence and lawlessness which is killing our nation? It is time for this stupid and misguided nepotism to stop.
http://www.belizetimes.bz/2010/04/23/udp-politics-as-usual%E2%80%A6-17/
It has been a busy week for Moses Leviy – the rapper formally known as Jamal Shyne Barrow. He has released three songs; the first being Messiah – his first solo track since his release from prison as well as a remix of Rihanna’s Rude Boy, and just yesterday he released another recording on an Alicia Keys track. But as we reported last night, Shyne also has a new gig in Belize. He has been appointed Musical Ambassador and will head the music program at NICH. He told Keith Swift all about his plans yesterday – at this first official appearance as the ambassador.
exercising some of their artistic skills and sports and music become an important thing. You try to develop like what is a wholelistic curriculum that goes beyond just the learning of academic subjects and I think in the Caribbean generally we have been very focused on the academics but now it is important to broaden and give all children an opportunity to have this wholistic upbringing and this is what this project is about and I think a good job is being done.”
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