Rapper Didn't Beat the Rap, but He Gets a Record Deal

Proving that even a decade-long prison sentence cannot keep a good rapper down, Shyne, incarcerated on assault, gun possession and reckless endangerment charges, has signed a new deal with Def Jam Records, the label's chairman, Antonio Reid, confirmed on Saturday.

''While it is premature to discuss the details of our arrangement with Shyne, we are proud to welcome him to our Def Jam family,'' Mr. Reid said in an interview, confirming a report on Friday in The Los Angeles Times.

Questions remain about whether Shyne, 25, can earn money while in prison. Under the agreed terms he will have his own label, Gangland Records. The deal, orchestrated by Def Jam's president, Kevin Liles, was quietly signed four weeks ago, said a record company official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Warner Music, now led by Lyor Cohen, a Def Jam alumnus, and Sony lost in a bidding war that heated up in February, the official said.

The deal could be worth as much as $3 million, The Los Angeles Times reported, but the official said that figure was incorrect. Still, he added, ''Shyne will have more than enough to feed his family.''

A new album by Shyne, a former protégé of Sean Combs, who is better known as P. Diddy, could be out as early as this fall. ''One will definitely be out by the end of the year,'' the company official said. Before going to prison, Shyne is said to have recorded several songs; the forthcoming album is likely to consist of those tracks laid over new beats, industry analysts suggested.

The signing of Shyne is considered a major coup for Mr. Liles and an auspicious beginning for Mr. Reid, who in early March replaced Mr. Cohen as chairman of Island/Def Jam. In 2002 Irv Gotti, the founder of Murder Inc. Records, told MTV News that he was interested in Shyne.

Although he is not eligible for parole until 2009, the Def Jam deal could spark a comeback for Shyne, whose career was stalled in 2001 when he was sentenced to 10 years for his role in a shootout at a Manhattan nightclub. In the same trial Mr. Combs, Shyne's former boss, was cleared of weapons possession and bribery. Shyne has accused Mr. Combs of betrayal in interviews with The Village Voice and XXL, a hip-hop magazine. Shortly after he was sentenced, his contract with Bad Boy, Mr. Combs's label, was severed.

Born Jamal Barrow in Belize and reared in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Shyne was discovered rapping in a Brooklyn barbershop by a local talent scout. His gruff baritone quickly earned him comparisons to Bad Boy Records' former flagship artist, Biggie Smalls, who was shot to death in 1997 -- no small compliment. On the strength of ''Bad Boyz,'' a jerk-marinated collaboration with the reggae star Barrington Levy, Shyne's debut album, ''Shyne,'' did reasonably well, selling 900,000 copies since its release in 2000, according to Soundscan.

In an industry in which bullet wounds and rap sheets the length of unfurled Charmin rolls are shorthand for street credibility, having an incarcerated artist on a record company roster could be great for business. But Mr. Liles maintained that his company was not looking to capitalize on Shyne's current address: Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y. ''I have a problem with people deeming him credible because he's in jail,'' he said. ''He was the truth before he went in.''

Lawyers for Shyne are working on an appeal, the record company official said.

How to market an artist unavailable for promotion remains to be seen, but Mr. Liles is optimistic. ''Def Jam is in the business of doing things that people haven't done before and doing things that people deem too difficult,'' he said. ''We look at this as the perfect challenge.''

It is not the first time in the label's two-decade history that it has dealt with an artist serving time. In 1994, while in prison on attempted-murder charges, the rapper Slick Rick released the album ''Behind Bars.'' The video for its first single was animated.

''Shyne is really running the show here,'' Mr. Liles said. ''This is his movement, this is his vision, and we're here to support him.''