Shyne Po – Vibe Interview Semptember 2004

VIBE: How did this idea for a Brooklyn supergroup come about?

SHYNE: I knew Inga [Foxy] since we was in high school. Jay-Z is someone who I have a distinct level of respect for, musically. I spoke to Inga and Jay-Z about it, and we’re working out the logistics. Right now, it’s really just a vision. It ain’t solidified.

Do you think the music you recorded when you were on trial still represents you?
Oh, absolutely. You’ll feel what I was goingthrough-thefuckin’ pressure of havin’ to go from the court¬room straight to the studio and really make some shit, because this could be the last song I record for who knows how long.

What do you think about hip hop right now?
Four years ago, I made a conscious decision not to listen to the radio or watch TV. I was thinking about why God had me trapped off like this, as if he was telling me that he ain’twant me todo music on some Mason Betha shit. But during that time, recordsjust started being created through me. I became the artist I always wanted to be without trying.

So you’re saying that for all these years, you haven’t thought about the competition?
Look, I’m not concerned with the external shit. I got an appeal pending. I’m fighting for my life. Fuck what these cartoons are out here talking about, man. So many things come before what’s happeningwith music.

Let’s go back to before the trial-1998. There was talk of Puffy signing you for more than a million dollars after a heated bidding war. You were going to be the next Biggie. By ’99, you had a reputation for unjustifiable arrogance. What happened?
I ain’t never been given nothin’ in my life; all I had was just the richness of my thoughts. So when the shit finally translated into material, I ain’t know how to act. I’d get up at, like, 7 at night and drive around in my Mercedes 600, just looking for something to run up in. I’d go to the club and spend thousands of dollars on Cristal. Healthwise, I was fucked up.

How’d you find the energy for all that?
Sometimes I didn’t. I remember meandthischick-she’s like one of the biggest stars ever-we was almost ready to go for the home run, and I fell asleep!

Asleep on the job? Whoa. When did you decide to pull it together? .
Me and the R&B chick had a little argument, and she was like, “Yo, duke, you ain’t even sell one record. Who the fuck do you think you are?” That shit reminded me that since I’m a music nigga, I’m supposed to be making music.

Did your relationship with Puff transcend the professional?
Yeah. When my funds were fucked up at the end of ’99, he let me stay at the crib. I was with him and homegirl J.Lo all the time. When the nigga had Thanksgiving, I was there. His family was there. Wolf-God bless the dead-and his family was there. At that point, I was his little brother, so despite whatever I heard about homeboy, like the way he treated his artists, I ain’t seen that until the trial.

When you saw where the confrontation was going-money being tossed, voices being raised-why didn’t you just walk away?
That wasn’t my beef, but I wasn’tgonnawalkaway-I live with this nigga. I roll with this nigga every day.

During Puffy’s testimony, his attorney asked him if you were friends, and essentially, he said that you were no different than his other artists. What did your relationship have to do with the criminal charges?
There’s a New York self-defense statute that says that you don’t have the “duty to retreat” if a loved oneorfriend is still in danger. So if Puff would have said I was his homeboy, my lawyers could have argued that I had no duty to retreat. Instead, Scrams got on the stand on some, “Yeah, he’s just another artist on my label.” Thisf ucked me up with the jury.

I can imagine it hurt in other ways, too.
You know, after the conviction, I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. This was based on me beingshotwhen I was younger; you know, when I was, like, 15 they shot me and they blew my home-boy’s brains out right in front of my eyes.

But why did you accuse Puffy of being a rat?
They called this chick, Cherise Myers, to testify. She said that I pulled out my gun and started shooting all crazy, and that Wolf-God bless the dead-was telling me to stop. That’s just the fucking farthest thing from the truth. As my homeboy, how you gonna put somebody on the stand whose lie could put me behind bars for 25 years?

Where were your lawyers in all of this?
Murray Richman is supposed to be one of the best lawyers; he helped Jigga, he got DMX off. But he was trash. He did nothing in comparison to Combs’s attorneys, Benjamin Brafman and Johnnie Cochran. They were just asking commonsense questions, but Richman wasn’t even makingsense, man. Like he was smoked out or something.

Did you confront him?
Yeah! I was like, What the fuck are you doing?! I could¬n’t even speak to this nigga after the first couple of days of testimony. After that, Ian Niles took over.

Are you still angry at Puff about the trial?
I got two eyes: the metaphysical and the material. Right now, I’m on some metaphysical shit, like this happened for a reason. I’m extraordinarily blessed. My career ain’t destroyed, and the love I’ve been gettingfrom the people is unimaginable.
Butthe material eye wanna pop his top, because this shit didn’t just affect me. It affected my mother and my grandmother, and it could have destroyed my livelihood. More than that, it could have been prevented. All he had to do was tell the truth.

What’s the truth?
He could havejust said: “Matthew’Scar’ Allen was arguing with us and threatening us. One of his doggies pulled out, and then I pulled out in self-defense.” That’s all he had to do.

So what are you going to do the first day you get home?
I’ll play moms a visit and go to the studio.
l got damn near 10 albums to put down. And this ain’t about me coming out and being the biggest superstar; it’s about makingthismusicand, hopefully, affect-ing people the way Bob Marley and ‘Pac did.

So after you leave the studio, then what?
I’m not gonna leave the studio. There’s a lot of records to be made.

Did this environment force you to become more spiritual?
Being here just magnified what I really was. I’ve gone through so many different phases trying to understand the Most High, from Islam to Chris¬tianity. But what the Hebrews talk about just sim¬plifies everything, it’s just the Most High and you. there’s no intermediary.

Have you ever asked God why he chose this path for you?
The Most High took me from Flatbush, Brooklyn-from my moms scrubbing other people’s toilets and me sleepin’ on a couch till I was 17-to a record deal. So I can’t complain now. There’s mother¬fuckers in here that got natural life. When I look at their burdens, my load doesn’t look so heavy.

If this is indeed a journey, are there any unbearable moments?
Don’t get it twisted or tangled, it’s serious. Being here is like walking on clear water, and hell is beneath. I see the fire burning, I see motherfuckers being tortured, but I can’t look down. I can only look up-and ahead.