Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ battle with the law has become a very public ordeal at this point. The world knows about his accusation and all the controversy surrounding his arrest, and audiences are bringing up every public interaction he has had to look for clues. However, many may not know that this isn’t the first time the rapper has been indicted.
Sean Combs AKA Diddy || Image by Shamsuddin Muhammad, licensed under CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In 2001, the rapper was arrested for firing off a gun inside a Manhattan club. Although he was acquitted by the jury, there was someone who ended up behind bars; Jamal ‘Shyne’ Barrow. The young rapper was under Combs’ wing and ended up taking the role of the ‘fall guy’ in the eyes of many, being convicted of first-degree assault and serving ten years for it.
This was a very controversial moment in Combs’ career. So much so, that convicted felon, Suge Knight, called him out for his antics.
Suge Knight is a controversial figure on his own, having charges of voluntary manslaughter and a sentence of 28 years in prison. Despite this, it would seem that one action taken by Diddy was enough to cross even his moral boundaries.
Suge Knight’s The Homecoming Music Video | Death Row Records
Knight has had a very publically strained relationship with Combs. One would assume that the fact that Shyne was signed with Bad Boy Records and not Death Row Records would make Knight hesitant about commenting on the matter.
However, he was very vocal when Jamal ‘Shyne’ Barrow was put behind bars. He ended up commenting on the entire situation in Wendy Williams’s memoir. Confessing that he would try everything he could to help the young artist come out of jail, he condemned Combs for his actions.
I would do what I can do to get [Barrow] out. He don’t necessarily have to be an artist on Tha Row, but I would do it because I think that was like one of the worst things that could happen to anybody.
He pointed out that he did not care that Barrow was not signed with his record company. Knight was simply so angry with the situation that the younger rapper was put in that he felt empathetic towards him.
Many people have condemned Diddy for what happened between him, the courts, and Jamal ‘Shyne’ Barrow. There have been speculations about what actually took place, with many thinking that the young rapper was turned into the sacrificial lamb so that the music mogul could come out of the situation unscathed.
A still from Shyne’s Bad Boyz music video | Credit: Bad Boy Records
Suge Knight also spoke on the same, being quite vocal about what he thinks happened. In the book, he further elaborated on the entire situation, stating that he lost a lot of respect for Combs after the entire situation. He clarified that he did not have much respect for the rapper to begin with. However, it was this action that took it too far.
That’s when I had a little, little, little, little respect respect for Puffy. The little respect was ‘cause he’s black. After what he did to Shyne. He’s a rat. I do not like rats. I do not like snitches. I think a rat is the lowest that you can get.
Knight even went as far as to claim that Combs snitched on Barrow so that he could get out of a sticky situation. Referring to him as a ‘rat’, it is safe to say that the entire speculation seems even more true after recent events.
