Rapper Shyne would vote for Mitt Romney for president if he was allowed to cast a ballot in the upcoming election. Shyne made his feelings known in a phone interview with MTV News.

Shyne was deported to Belize after serving about nine years in jail after being found guilty of assault, reckless endangerment, and gun possession in a December 27, 1999 New York City nightclub incident. Sean “Diddy” Combs (who was accompanied by then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez) on the night in question was cleared of all criminal charges by a jury in the gunfight at Club New York.

Shyne referred to President Obama as “corny” in the interview apparently in part because the rapper has encountered an inordinate amount of red tape in getting a visa to return to the states:

“[Obama] knows who I am, he knows what’s happenin’. He’s always talkin’ about he listens to hip-hop and his daughter listens to hip-hop. He knows who Shyne is, he knows I’m deported.”

Shyne, who has become more devoted to Judaism in recent years, suggested that he could play a significant role as the president’s emissary to inner-city youth in Chicago and elsewhere: “How can he be serious about stopping violence in inner cities and promoting education in inner cities and not using Shyne?”

He said that he is an example of someone who has turned his life around after making mistakes and is deserving of a second chance from the president (and by extension, the immigration authorities). “Jews is powerful, so if he don’t help the Jew out, he ain’t gonna be blessed,” Shyne claimed.

Shyne added that he and the president share a mentor in common, Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree.

Shyne also noted that he is supporting Romney for president even though, quoting Kanye West, “Mitt Romney don’t pay no tax.” The former Massachusetts governor, however, actually paid about $1.4 million in taxes in 2011 and donated about $4 million in charity; as a result  he and his wife Ann voluntarily paid a higher tax rate than they were legally required.

Listen to Shyne’s phone interview on MTV News:

[photo credit: Royal Shyne via photopin cc]

Rapper Shyne Backs Mitt Romney, Obama Is ‘Corny’ [Listen] is a post from: The Inquisitr