Many people endure distressing events that they pinpoint as the moments the course of lives shifted. For Shyheim, he says it was when he was violently assaulted and robbed in a nightclub in his hometown of Staten Island. The Wu-Tang Clan-affiliated rapper was recently released from prison after serving five years for second-degree manslaughter following a fatal car accident. He chatted with VladTV about milestones in his life, including those that were devastating.
According to Shyheim, he was in a nightclub one evening when he attacked. "I'm wearing $100,000 worth of jewelry, chains, rings, bracelets, money in my pocket," he recalled. "I definitely think jewelry and things of that was the spark of it. Now, when I look back at it, you can't bring honey in a place where a bunch of bees is at." He noted that many of the people there were hustlers just trying to make a way, and Shyheim was enjoying, and showing off, the fruits of his success.
Vlad pressed Shyheim about what happened during the robbery itself, but the rapper seemed as if he didn't want to share details. "Yeah, it got into that, but like I said, Vlad, that's a thing of the past," he said. "I learned from it. I learned to not try to put myself in those situations. Everyone that was involved, I understand. I wish them the best in life. Yeah, I just try to move forward from that whole ordeal."
He added, "That really was the thing that changed my life. It forced me to be other than myself, to wanna carry guns and carry a gun to protect myself. Trauma's a lot. Today they would call it bullying, back then we would call it, it is what it is." Shyheim shared that during the attack he was slashed in the face with a box cutter and his wound required upwards of 350 stitches "inside and outside."
The rapper said he wasn't "in the street" at the time so he was shocked by the attack. "It's one thing about rappin' something about your neighborhood or what you seen to actually becoming a victim of that," Shyheim said. Watch his clip below and check out what he said about losing trust for people and entering a state of paranoia following the violent assault.