Shyne: “It was Bigger Than A Concert And Bigger Than Me”

After a quarter century marked by controversy, incarceration, exile, faith and redemption, Moses “Shyne” Barrow is calling his long-awaited return to the stage nothing short of spiritual. Fresh off a sold-out twenty-fifth anniversary concert celebrating his debut album, the Belizean-born rapper-turned-politician says the moment was bigger than music. We spoke with him shortly after returning to Belize today. He says the experience was a shared journey with the people who never gave up on him. In this candid interview, Barrow reflects on the weight of his past, the power of prayer and why his triumphant return felt more like a divine homecoming than a performance.

 

Shyne Barrow, Musical Artist

“I carried the weight, the gravity, the offering, if you will of twenty-five years of trial, of tragedy and now ultimately triumph. It was, I’m anti-monarch so I’m not sure if coronation is the appropriate word, but it was a – it was a homecoming of divine proportions. It felt like a spiritual ceremony. And it wasn’t about me, it was about us. Just to have done that, to see on the marquee ‘Sold Out’ but I knew all along going into this first concert of the tour what it meant because I wasn’t even supposed to return to the United States at one point. So it’s not a regular concert. It’s not a regular thing for me. It’s never been regular. I wasn’t even supposed to make it from Brooklyn, from Currasow Street. And people always ask me, “How do you do it?” I pray, Shane. God is real. God is as present as you allow God to be in your life. I kneel down every day and pray. I pray when my eyes are closed, I pray when my eyes are open. I saw it as a spiritual thing and it felt so good. And I had the Garifuna drummers that drummed on my set before I said my first words.”

 

Shyne says the rest of his US tour will feature some impressive guest appearances.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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