Shamele Mackie (born March 5, 1978), known professionally as Papoose (), is an American rapper. Known for his freestyles and prolific

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

output, Papoose began his career in 1998 and has released four studio albums and 29 mixtapes. Born in New York, Mackie made his recording debut on

Kool G Rap Nathaniel Thomas Wilson (born July 20, 1968), better known by his stage name Kool G Rap (or simply G Rap), is an American rapper. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as a member of the Juice Cr ...

's 1998 album '' Roots of Evil''. Papoose produced and distributed his own mixtapes during the early 2000s, and signed with

Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...

to record his debut studio album, '' The Nacirema Dream'' from 2005 to 2006. It failed to release in the latter year due to label conflicts, although it was released independently in 2013 and entered the ''Billboard'' 200. His second album, '' You Can't Stop Destiny'' (2015), followed thereafter.

Early life

Shamele Mackie was born on March 5, 1978. He was raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. While an early rumor stated that his ancestry traced back to

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

, a matrilineal DNA test through African Ancestry, Inc. revealed that he actually descends from the

Tikar people The Tikar (formally known as Tikari, Tigar, Tigari, and Tigre throughout their history) are a Central African ethnic group in Cameroon. They are known to be great artists, artisans and Oral tradition, storytellers. Once a nomadic people, some or ...

living in present-day

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. The nickname "

Papoose Papoose (from the Narragansett ''papoos'', meaning "child") is an American English word whose present meaning is "a Native American child" (regardless of tribe) or, even more generally, any child, usually used as a term of endearment, often in ...

" was given to him by his grandmother for his resemblance as a baby to a Native American child.

Career

Beginnings (1998–2004)

In 1998, Papoose made his rap debut on

's '' Roots of Evil'' album. In 2004, he released his debut single, "Thug Connection", which featured the b-side "Alphabetical Slaughter".

Select Records Select Records was an American record label. Among its most popular acts were the Real Roxanne, Chubb Rock, AMG, The Jerky Boys, Kid 'n Play, UTFO, Whistle, and Gary Private. From 1990 to 1995, it had a distribution deal with Elektra Reco ...

offered him an eight-album deal, which he rejected.

Breakthrough, independent mixtapes (2005–2012)

After a stint at

Rikers Island Rikers Island is a prison island in the East River in the Bronx, New York (state), New York, United States, that contains New York City's largest jail. Named after Abraham Rycken, who took possession of the island in 1664, the island was orig ...

, Papoose began producing and selling mixtapes independently, one of which he presented to

DJ Kay Slay Keith Grayson (August 14, 1966 – April 17, 2022), professionally known as DJ Kay Slay, was an American disc jockey (DJ) from New York City. He is referred to by ''The New York Times'' as "Hip Hop's One-Man Ministry of Insults". He released fou ...

outside the offices of New York's Hot 97, who then invited Papoose onto his radio show. Impressed by his rendition of "Alphabetical Slaughter", Kay Slay signed him to his Streetsweepers imprint. Papoose continued to release mixtapes at a prolific rate, over a dozen between 2004 and 2006, and won the Justo Mixtape Award for Best Underground Artist in 2005. During this time, he became associated with

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

Flipmode Squad Flipmode Squad is an American hip hop collective formed and fronted by Busta Rhymes. History In 1993, Busta Rhymes first introduced the Flipmode Squad when he still was a part of former group Leaders of the New School, with the members bei ...

, appearing on the remix of " Touch It". On August 24, 2006, Papoose announced that he had signed with

in a deal worth $1.5 million. and was planning his debut album, '' The Nacirema Dream''.'' Hip-Hop Connection'', October 2006. In September 2007, Kay Slay revealed that he and Papoose had left Jive, saying that they had "almost (became) victims of A&R hell." Papoose continued to release his work independently, dropping nine mixtapes between 2007 and 2012. On the 2009 mixtape ''21 Gun Salute'', Papoose admitted that he was able to keep the $1.5 million from Jive, despite not releasing an album.

''The Nacirema Dream'', ''You Can't Stop Destiny'' (2012–2015)

After seven years of development and 27 mixtapes in all, Papoose secured a deal with

Fontana Distribution Fontana Distribution was a division of San Franciscobased Isolation Network (now owned by the Virgin Music Group unit of the Universal Music Group since 2019). A minority stake of the company was owned by Universal Music until Ingrooves acquired ...

to release his debut album '' The Nacirema Dream''.Papoose Tells Old Man Ebro He Deserves More Spins on HOT 97 + Tells Cipha Sounds, Rosenberg & K. Foxx That Prison Guards Spy When He And Remy Get It In [VIDEO]
Hot97.com (December 13, 2012). Retrieved on 2013-01-14. The album was released on March 26, 2013, to positive reviews from music critics and debut at number 97 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200. It was preceded by the single "On Top of My Game", featuring Mavado. On June 2, 2013, Papoose "crashed" Hot 97's Summer Jam with the help of

Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label. Specializing in hip hop and R&B artists, TDE is based in Carson, California. The label was founded in 2004 by record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who is the chief exec ...

, performing ''The Nacirema Dreams third single "Get At Me" with Ron Browz. Following the release of " Control", Papoose took offence to

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

claiming the title of "King of New York" and dissed him in a remix of the track. Lamar called Papoose's response "comical" and threw shots back at him during the

BET Hip Hop Awards The BET Hip Hop Awards are an annual awards show, airing on BET, showcasing hip hop performers, producers and music video directors. The awards ceremony began in 2006; it was held on November 12, 2006 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta and was first ...

cypher. On October 4, 2013, Papoose responded by saying that Lamar would never be "able to shine my shoes, lyrically" and that he was planning to release another

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (an abbreviation of ''disrespect'' or ''disparage'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feu ...

on an upcoming mixtape. On November 4, 2013, Papoose released ''Hoodie Season'' his first mixtape since his debut album. He would release two more mixtapes, ''Hoodie Season 2'' and ''Cigar Society'', before releasing his second studio album '' You Can't Stop Destiny'' on July 17, 2015.

Television career, ''Underrated'' (2015–present)

With the release of his wife Remy Ma from New York State prison in 2014, the couple joined the cast of

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

's '' Love & Hip Hop: New York'' for its sixth season after receiving "an offer they couldn't refuse". He has continued to appear on the show in seasons seven and eight, before being promoted to the main cast in seasons nine and ten. He also starred in the spin-off show '' Remy & Papoose: Meet the Mackies'', and in the specials ''Remy & Papoose: A Merry Mackie Holiday'', ''Dirty Little Secrets'' and ''The Love Edition''. In conjunction with the show, Papoose released the song "Black Love", in tribute to his relationship with Remy. On February 15, 2019, Papoose released his third studio album, ''Underrated''. In January 2023, Papoose was hired by digital distributor

TuneCore TuneCore is a New York City–based digital music distribution, publishing and licensing service founded in 2006. It was acquired by Believe Music in April 2015. TuneCore distributes music through online retailers such as Deezer, Spotify, Amazon ...

Personal life

He is the cousin of the record producer

Pi'erre Bourne Jordan Timothy Jenks (born September 19, 1993), known professionally as Pi'erre Bourne (), is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and audio engineer. He is known for producing the 2017 singles " Magnolia" for Playboi Carti ...

. Papoose has two children with ex-girlfriend Yvetta Lashley. Dejanae Mackie, born November 1996, and Shamele Mackie, born April 1999. He also has a daughter, Destiny, born September 2000. On May 12, 2008, he exchanged wedding vows with rapper Remy Ma over the phone while she was incarcerated. In February 2016, they officially married in a formal ceremony, which was featured in the season finale of '' Love & Hip Hop: New York''s sixth season. She gave birth to the couple's first child together, Reminisce Mackenzie, on December 14, 2018. On May 22, 2025, Papoose filed for divorce in New York, citing irreconcilable differences. In the filing, he accused Remy Ma of engaging in multiple extramarital affairs. Among those named was battle rapper Eazy The Block Captain, as well as an unidentified woman allegedly met during Remy Ma’s incarceration.The breakup has garnered significant media attention due to the couple’s previously publicized relationship and subsequent accusations exchanged between the two. After his relationship with Remy Ma he got into a relationship with

female An organism's sex is female ( symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and ...

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

Claressa Shields Claressa Maria Shields (born March 17, 1995) is an American professional boxer and former professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. She has held multiple world championships in Quintuple champion#Boxing, five weight classes, includi ...

Discography

Studio albums *'' The Nacirema Dream'' (2013) *'' You Can't Stop Destiny'' (2015) *''Underrated'' (2019) *''Endangered Species'' (2020)

Filmography

*'' Righteous Kill'' (2008) *'' Love & Hip Hop: New York'' (2015–2020) *'' Remy & Papoose: Meet the Mackies'' (2018)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Papoose 1978 births Living people African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers American people of Cameroonian descent American prisoners and detainees Five percenters Rappers from Brooklyn Underground rappers Participants in American reality television series 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians