Shyne fight back with a Fax Machine

[Guest LeVeL]

"You can take away a man's phone, but not his fax machine"

Incarcerated rapper Shyne is fighting the prison powers that be--via a handwritten note faxed to MTV by his legal team.

The hip-hop star, jailed since 2001 on charges of assault, reckless endangerment, weapons possession and related offenses stemming from a 1999 club shooting involving former mentor Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, recently had his phone privileges yanked from an upstate New York facility.

Now, the rapper is venting his frustration to the press over his prison payphone lockdown.

"I categorically deny any intentional wrongdoing," Shyne (aka Jamaal Barrow) writes. "The extreme measures taken by the department of incorrection to suspend my phone privileges and deny the media access are draconian at best. Such extreme steps are taken only with the most dangerous or disruptive inmates; I qualify as neither."

Shyne continues: "This is about me inadvertently failing to comply with [their] Taliban phone rules, which amount to blackmail and extortion."

Authorities at New York's Clinton State Correctional Facility have yet to respond to Shyne's statement, but we're guessing that the letter will not persuade prison officials to give the former Puffy protégé his phone back.

Shyne lost his privileges last month after authorities decided he was conducting business from the slammer--a big no-no.

Shyne signed a controversial record deal with Island Def Jam earlier this year from prison. The deal stipulated that Shyne would be able to launch his own Gangland vanity imprint--with manufacturing, promotion and distribution handled via Island Def Jam. Just weeks ago, Shyne reportedly signed model/socialite/Benihana heiress Devon Aoki from the slammer as the first artist on Gangland.

The hip-hopster has been unable to conduct business on the phone or talk to reporters since the phone ban Aug. 16, but he told BET just days before the ban that he was hopeful he may soon get a new trial or perhaps early parole. He also told the cable channel that he was working with Mark Wahlberg on a possible documentary of his life.

While the rap kingpin cools his jets in the slammer (he's not up for parole until 2009), his debut release, Godfather Buried Alive, remains hot on the charts; it entered the Billboard 200 at number three last month and is currently number 19.

Shyne's latest single and video, "Jimmy Choo," is expected to help push sales of Godfather Buried Alive past the 500,000 mark to gold status.

Meanwhile, Shyne ended his Thursday letter with a plea for everyone to vote for John Kerry. We're sure Kerry appreciates the support.

[ryan2772]

i'm surprised he knows how to use a fax machine