Shyne

1	Dear America (Intro) 1:01
2	What'cha Gonna Do? 5:16
3	Bang 3:48
4	Bad Boyz / Barrington Levy 3:29
5	Let Me See Your Hands 1:03
6	Gangsta Prayer (Interlude) 4:17
7	The Life 2:59
8	It's OK 3:48
9	Niggas Gonna Die 3:43
10	Everyday (Interlude) 4:40
11	Bonnie and Shyne / Barrington Levy 2:56
12	The Hit 4:11
13	That's Gangsta 3:43
14	Spend Some Cheese 4:40
15	Get Out 2:56
16	Commission 4:12
17	[Untitled Track]

Barnes & Noble

The antics of Puff Daddy's drama-startin' protégé and Notorious B.I.G. sound-alike Shyne sent tongues waggin' long before the release of his eponymous debut. Back in December 1999, Shyne allegedly opened fire inside of a Manhattan nightclub and wounded three people. For his involvement in that incident, the 20-year-old could face up to 25 years in prison. In spite of -- or perhaps because of -- the advance hype, Shyne has the unenviable burden of proving his lyrical skills beyond Biggie comparisons and reviving the Bad Boy label's floundering empire. On his self-titled debut, Shyne fails to deliver on his promise to spearhead the next evolution in hip-hop, but he does make charismatic commentary on the plight of enraged urban youth. On the ominous spoken intro, Shyne warns: "Dear America/I'm only what you made me/Young, Black, and f***in' crazy/Reparations is due/And y'all gonna pay." The reggae-tinged lead single "Bad Boyz" sets the standard for the disc's remaining 15 tracks, all of which employ catchy, loop-and-sample production by P-Diddy and his Hitmen. Meanwhile, the digitally chaotic "It's OK" and the melancholy, string-riddled "The Hit" provide the perfect musical backdrop for Shyne's rhymes about social conflict. Whether Shyne will become hip-hop's next big thing remains to be seen. But with a controversial image and lyrics to match, he's off to great start. Neo Brentacious

All Music Guide

The long-awaited debut by Notorious B.I.G.'s successor on Puff Daddy's Bad Boy label, Shyne, follows through on its promise to present a thuggish, hardcore equivalent to the seemingly irreplaceable, deceased gangsta superstar. From the opening monologue ("Dear America, I'm only what you made me/Young, black, and f*cking crazy/Maybe if all you niggas were building schools instead of prisons, I'd stop living the way I'm living/Probably not/I'm so used to serving rocks and burning blocks"), there's little denying that Shyne is trying to be what his audience wants him to be: the hardest rapper yet, harder than 2Pac, Biggie, and DMX. Although this is merely on a par with other here-today, gone-tomorrow post-Biggie Bad Boy releases like Black Rob's Life Story (1999) and G. Dep's Child of the Ghetto (2001), Shyne's efforts here are indeed commendable, particularly considering the precedent he's following. Jason Birchmeier

Rolling Stone

Shyne is like a five-car pileup of luxury autos: a mix of beauty and destruction that demands your attention with its violence and waste. Kris Ex