And Daddy Dean isn't the only one talking about Shyne Barrow - he's received both high praises and harsh criticisms over the past few days, mostly stemming from his BET performance. The nation seems to be divided between the performance bringing great publicity to Belize, and the unprecedented idea of any future prime ministerial candidate rapping in front of millions of viewers.
But, one thing's for sure, those millions of viewers got a good look at the Belizean flag.
Of course, we can't say for sure that this will translate into a huge tourism boost, but it is great exposure, and we asked the Minister of Tourism what he thought of Barrow's performance.
Hon. Anthony Mahler - Minister of Tourism
"I congratulate him, that's where he wanted to be, on that stage, he was a part of that industry over there, he spent ten years or so in jail, and he's been deported sometime ago so he has been given a second chance and I congratulate him on that, I have no ill will. I mean, how can you measure what the tour operators in here, they package tours every single day and they grind every single day, so how can you downplay that? How can you downplay what the Belize Tourism Board is doing, every single day? How do you downplay the work that the Belize Hotel Association is doing? How do you downplay that the Belize Tourism Industry Association is doing? How do you downplay the work that hotels are doing to promote Belize every single day in the markets all over this world? Every time you see Belize, it helps. You have a bunch of students going to I think Switzerland or Sweden sometime this year for a robotics competition, it's considered the Olympics of robotics, and they will put Belize out there. You have some riders and some athletes that are in Guadalupe right now, they will put Belize out there. you have the prime minister in Rwanda and Portugal and Suriname, every moment that we get to say Belize, we should."
Courtney Menzies
"But considering that Mr Shyne has an in with the group of people, these global superstars, don't you think it could work out in Belize's benefit if the Ministry of Tourism would partner with him?"
Hon. Anthony Mahler
"I am willing to listen, if there is an opportunity for us to collaborate I will do so. But it will have to be something that is feasible, I will take it to the technical people and we'll see where we go from there. I wish him all the best in his efforts, that's all I have to say about that."
