Shyne”bigs up” Belize at BET Awards; social media buzzing with support and condemnation

Published by BBNTEAM at June 27, 2022

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Posted: Monday, June 27, 2022. 7:07 pm CST.

By Benjamin Flowers: Belizeans at home and within the diaspora joined with others around the world who tuned into the BET Awards last night, to watch the country’s flag prominently displayed on the backdrop as Moses Shyne Barrow, the man who intends to offer himself for the role of Prime Minister in the next election, took the stage to perform.

Granted, Barrow was not on any official diplomatic duty when he got up on stage to reprise his 2000 single Bad Boy alongside hip hop music icon P. Diddy, seeing the Belizean flag at an event that honors musical excellence at that level is, in itself, historic.

Switching out the flashy clothes of his rap star life for a suit and heavily editing his original lyrics for a more television-friendly version of the song, with references to Belize weaved into the lines, Barrow in many ways, “put Belize on the map” again.

Social media has been buzzing since the performance, with those so inclined to opine giving their take on Barrow’s performance and its significance.

Dianne Finnegan, Barrow’s aunt and a member of the United Democratic Party, was among the first to take to Facebook to congratulate Barrow on the performance, noting how well-received it was by the crowd.

Music industry stakeholders also chimed in, with names like Rude Boy Brand ambassador Stig Da Artist, praising Barrow for his representation of Belize.

Stig, who accompanied Barrow to the award show posted on his Facebook account following the performance saying, “You did it my brother, you took Belize to the world on the main stage! I’m grateful for the opportunities you have given to me as well, I’ll walk in your footsteps and “put Belize on the map.”

Breaking Belize News (BBN) spoke with James Sanker, Vice President of the Music Industry Association of Belize (MIAB), who said that all Belizeans should be glad that he represented Belize on such a high level.

“It shouldn’t be a polarizing issue, it’s exposure for Belize,” Sanker said. “it’s a small segment, but it’s on BET, nobody in Belize could pay for that.”

Similar sentiments were posted in the comments section, while others accused Barrow of abusing his office to relive his glory days.

Artist and producer, Omar Aldana, known by his stage name “Celeb” has been in the music business for over 15 years and has worked with big names such as Tommy Lee, and Russain. He called Barrow’s performance an embarrassment, stressing that it was self-serving as opposed to being for the promotion of Belize.

“All he is doing is proving everybody right who said that he is using politics to get his visa back,” Aldana said. “He has no reason to be in America to do any business for Belize. He’s using Belize to justify his reliving his rap career. It’s embarrassing.”

BBN joins supporting Belizeans in bigging up Shyne on his scintillating performance and highlighting Belize for the first time ever on the BET Awards stage. We leave the political comments to our readers.

What was your take on the performance and the political implications? Let us know in the comments.

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