Metrics: Shyne to be released from prison (seriously)

Over all these years, Shyne has become something of a living martyr - his story a modern parable of dreams deferred and mothers left behind on the road to the shiny suits and Godzilla deals of Puff Daddy's first hip-hop empire. Most non-hip-hop heads probably don't remember the buzz around Shyne when his first single dropped, but how could anyone forget the images of Puff and It-girl Jennifer Lopez canoodling in matching furs the night of the incident that ended his career?

Word was homey got hosed. Took the bid. Bit the bullet. We romanticize prison in hip-hop, and the idea of a would-be rap star doing hard time in his prime kept Shyne's memory alive for all these years. "Free Shyne," they say, and whenever a knowing DJ spins his gritty gangland anthem "Bad Boyz" in the club, shit gets grimey.

Eight years. It was supposed to be 10, but it turns out men who go down for first-degree assault and reckless endangerment can be remarkably well behaved when they need to be. Stay focused, stay sane, stay up.

"We're hoping for April," says Shyne's lawyer.

And I almost wish he wouldn't come back to rapping. Give up the game, Shyne. Travel the world, eat great food, make love as much as possible. Raise a family in a peaceful little house.

It'll never happen that way. The forthcoming, appropriately baudy and melodramatic Godfather Resurrected probably already has a marketing team. Bad Boyz never die, i guess.