Grammy Award winner Shyne Barrow made a revelation on his Instagram page this morning that UMG will be working to develop artists in the Caricom country.
The post which showed a video of him landing in Belize was captioned, “Always great to land in Belize but this particular return is historic as my brother @stevenvictor is partnering with me to provide BELIZEAN musicians with support from UMG to propel their Music Moments to a higher plateau. VISIT BELIZE.”
With over 2 decades of experience in the music business he is now focused on growing the artists in Belize.
In 2001 at the height of his music career he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for assault after being involved in a nightclub shooting in Club New York.
On December 27, 1999, Shyne, Puff Daddy and Jennifer Lopez, were implicated in a shooting incident involving Matthew “Scar” Allen at a Manhattan club. In the aftermath three people were injured. 21 year old Shyne, was charged with and later convicted of attempted murder, assault, and reckless endangerment. Puff Daddy was arrested but acquitted at trial. Upon release in 2009, Shyne was deported to Belize.
With his father Dean Barrow,a former Prime Minister, he entered Belize politics and was appointed the country’s Ambassador of Music charged with the sustainable development of the music industry in Belize. He has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars towards music development in the Caricom country. He is the country’s 13th Leader Of The Opposition.
Recently the former rapper was seen taking pictures with Jay Z, P.Diddy, DJ Khaled as well as members of congress on a return to US diplomatic tour.
His 2000 singles “Bad Boyz” featuring Barrington Levy Peaked at 57 on The Hot 100 chart, “Changed My Mind” with Keisha Cole peaked at number 2 on the Billboard HipHop/R&B Chart.
He appears on many multi-platinum albums such as Usher’s Confessions, Lil Wayne’s, Carter IV, Notorious B.I.G’s Born Again, Mase’s Double Up and Puff Daddy’s Forever, among others.
Meanwhile, Steven Victor who Shyne mentions that he partners with is the Senior Vice President of A&R at Universal Music Group and works closely with a number of artistes, including Kanye West, Pusha-T and The-Dream. He has also managed Desiigner, Tyga, CashMoneyAP and Pop Smoke.
On a large scale, UMG is one of the biggest music companies in the world. It leads the pack of the ‘big three’ record labels, along with Sony Music and Warner Music Group.
Within dancehall music, Shenseea through her deal with Rich Immigrants and Interscope records is inadvertently signed to Universal Music Group. Her manager Sal Xo has a direct deal with Universal Records to develop the MENA region(Middle East And North Africa). Jada Kingdom also announced a record deal with Republic Records, a New York City-based record label owned by Universal Music Group.
In 2019, Fast Company named Universal Music Group the most innovative music company and listed UMG among the Top 50 most innovative companies in the world. It has an estimated value of US$39 billion.
