Hip HopRandom

Shyne x XXL

blame it on Meka July 19, 2010

Jamal Michael Barrow Moses Michael Leviy graces the cover of XXL for the first time in a couple years, but instead of it being a reprint of his old “Fuck Diddy” pre-prison interview, he actually has something new to say. They better ask him about that damn Eli Porter-sounding voice he’s now using. I respect you’re trying to not sound like the “old” Shyne, but you still sound like that when you’re not rapping. Everybody has accepted and moved on from that incident, Po. Understandably it’s much harder for you to do so, but going so far as to willingly sound like the equivalent of a dying Cookie Monster isn’t helping matters either. Just do you – the real you – and nobody will even think twice about it anymore. But what do I know, I’m just a guy that sits in front of two computers every day.

Some choice quotes, courtesy of the new home of the Tyrese-produced reality series on Koreatown (good grief, 2012 can’t come soon enough), down bottom.

“You can always say, ‘Man, that ain’t the way to handle the situation,’ ” he told XXL. “Sure, I know in my soul that the situation was supposed to be handled in a different way. But it ain’t really a matter of disappointment or letdown, ’cause I never really … I grew up never having sh–, never having anybody. So I never was that dude to depend on a mother—-er. Obviously, the actions is not something that you condone or that you’re happy with. Not at all.”

After serving almost nine years of his prison sentence, the Brooklyn-bred rapper was deported to his native Belize. Since then, he has re-joined Def Jam’s roster. The rapper has only provided a small sampling of material in the months after inking with the label, including “Messiah,” in which he raps with a noticeably drawn-out flow, a variation from the tighter delivery he displayed during his Bad Boy days.

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