Papoose

Shamele Mackie (born December 31, 1978 in Brooklyn, New York), better known by his stage name Papoose, is an American rapper and actor signed to DJ Kayslay's Streetsweepers Entertainment. Raised in the notorious Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, he made his first attempts at being a rapper at the young age of 11, and he made his first recorded appearance on Kool G Rap's Roots of Evil album in 1998. Since then he has released 22 mixtapes to huge underground success.

In 2008, he issued a statement saying that he and fellow rapper Remy Ma were to be married, but due to her impending jail sentence of potentially up to 25 years, they had changed their plans and intend to marry in prison instead. The prison wedding was called off after he attempted to smuggle a handcuffs key into prison on their wedding day in May 2008. After the incident, Papoose married Remy Ma the next day inside the courtroom right before sentencing and was barred from visiting her for six months.

He was given the name Papoose by his grandmother because of his childhood resemblance to an American Indian child. Inspired by rap legends Rakim, Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane, he has been well respected on the underground hip-hop circuit for a long period of time now.

In early 2006, his StreetSweepers crew linked up with Busta Rhymes' Flipmode Inkprint to co-executive produce Papoose's first official album. On August 24, 2006, his official website officially announced that he signed with Jive Records, a deal which, according to his management's official website was worth $1.5 million.

Papoose has recently become known for engaging in charity work, visiting sick children and donated to causes including the Make-A-Wish Foundation and to various Hurricane Katrina charities.

On September 19, 2007 DJ Kay Slay announced that Papoose and himself have parted ways from Jive records. "We have officially gotten our release from Jive fuckin records. It was like a fuckin year of hell... Unfortunately, we almost became victims of A&R hell." On the radio show slay was asked what was next for Papoose, and he said "You know we can't talk about that man." The future of the Papoose's debut album, The Nacirema Dream, is unknown at this time; however, Papoose and Kay Slay are rumored to own the records that were created under Jive.

Papoose is no longer affiliated with Flipmode Squad.