WATCH

S5 E53 | Shyne

02:30:41

Over the weekend, Moses Michael Levi Barrow — better known by many within the culture as Shyne — made a visit to N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN’s “Drink Champs” podcast series, where he spoke on his musical history, more recent life as a politician, past and present relationships, and much more. At the start of the interview, N.O.R.E. made mention of Barrow‘s slightly alternative moniker Shyne Po, which was revealed to have been partly created as a homage of sorts to late drug dealer Alpo Martinez:

“That’s a very ironic situation, ’cause obviously, I was faced with the same circumstances that he was faced with, and I actually anticipated my circumstances if you listened to “The Life” on my first album … So, the way I got that name was a mixture of Edgar Allen Poe, the poet, and Alpo, because I was dating a female that was dating him. You know, a popular female, she was an executive in the industry, and so she called me that name.”

As he continued to explain his connection to Alpo, he was also clear that he did not follow the path that the Harlemite took throughout his street profession:

“…When I was young, when I was 18 years old, I was … [I] had a lot of energy. [I] was real aggressive, had that Brooklyn aggression–so it’s strange ’cause he’s a Harlem guy, you know, but I was flashy, I think that’s the Belizean in me … and she said, you know, I remind her of him. But thankfully, I was not like him, you know, because I stuck to my honors, and I stuck to my integrity … you’re not a man, or you’re not a person of integrity until you’re faced with a decision that you have to make where your life is on the line, when your freedom is on the line, that’s when you know who you are.”

Press play on Shyne‘s “Drink Champs” interview above.