Music Supervisor Sarah Bromberg discusses the challenges of navigating the Diddy controversy in order to complete The Honorable Shyne.
The Honorable Shyne tells the remarkable story of Moses “Shyne” Barrow, the Grammy Award-winning musician turned politician. A rising star in the late 1990s, Shyne’s promising rap career was cut short after being charged in a high-profile New York nightclub shooting, along with rap impresario Sean “Puffy” Combs. This documentary provides an intimate look at Shyne’s personal evolution as he navigates fame, incarceration and a return home to Belize, where he finds new purpose and strives to lead his country to a brighter future.
In this interview with Music Supervisor Sarah Bromberg, she discusses how she got into this line of work, the challenges that she faced when putting this documentary together (especially what was going on with Diddy in the news at the time), and her upcoming project, Long Bright River.
Can You Talk About How You Got Into This Career?
I was working in the music industry and it was not a great time in the music industry. This was my first job out of college and I had starry eyes, but it was during the dawn of Napster and LimeWire and digital. So, the music industry hadn’t quite caught up. It was a lot of doom and gloom at that time.
I got into it because I wanted to support artists, make artists happy, be there for them to create their art. It was more making artists sad than making them happy. And I was like, oh, this is not what I wanted. But the one bright spot that we would have would be if we would get a sync placement for these small artists. One placement could recoup their whole album.
At that time I started to learn what a music supervisor was. And I was like, oh, that seems like a career that’s not doom and gloom and I would actually be doing what I want to be doing, which is making artists happy. I’ve always loved music and picture together. Eventually, several years later I was able to move into the advertising music world.
How Did You End Up Working On The Honorable Shyne?
The film is produced by our sister company Color Creative. So with projects that are produced by our sister’s company, they generally try to bring in us to be music supervisors on it. Talitha Watkins, who was executive producer, she brought us in and I ended up being the person to take the project amongst the supervisors there at radio, but I’m super excited about it. Obviously it’s a really dope project.
This was in early 2023. Our first meeting on this project was a long time ago. It was a very different landscape at the time. But I did know Shine. I remember Shyne from when he first put his album out, and, of course, I remember everything that happened with him, with the shooting and him going to jail. So it was shocking to hear that he’s now a political leader in Belize.
I was like, wait, I really do want to know about this story. Please do tell me more. I was really excited to hear about it. Cause you know, like many people I’m sure, had no idea what happened to Shyne after he got out of jail. It was quite shocking to find out that that’s where he was. I was like, wow, this is a great story. I’m super excited to work on this project.
They were just entering into production. I think they had already shot some stuff. They were still shooting. But yeah, that’s how I came to the project. It was very, very early. It’s an incredible story that he has to tell. And I was just so excited to be able to be a part of it. I just was like, wow, the world is going to be really shocked to see how you ended up where you are.
Is It Difficult To Widdle Down Which Songs You Are Going To Use?
Shyne has two main albums out. And so we sort of were pulling all the creative from those albums. There is certain priorities. Obviously we wanted to use Bad Boys. That’s his biggest song. That was an essential song. And then the other songs, they shifted, but it was basically creative based on what the cuts were doing. So as the cuts expanded, as the cuts changed, as they shifted, some of the songs fell in and some fell out.
It’s based on the time in his life of the part of the story that we’re telling, what the song is saying, how the song was significant to his life. So those were all the pieces that played into creative decisions. But then of course, there’s also the clearance part of it, which when it comes to late nineties hip hop, it can be very notorious for being tough to clear for a litany of reasons.
All the creative notes were taken and then we had to then go do our research and figure out who are the owners of these songs? Are they clearable? Is everybody okay with everybody? Is everybody going to say yes to something like this? So there was a lot, there was literally more than a year of legwork that went into researching some of these songs. And some of them ended up in a place of, no, we actually can’t use this song for one reason or another, whether it’s an uncleared sample or a writer who’s not happy with the splits or whatever. There’s producers who didn’t get credits.
There’s a litany of reasons that we would not be able to use songs. And some of those did come up. So then it’s looking at the rest of the list, what else can cover this creative moment in the film.
What Was It Like Dealing With The Diddy Controversy While Putting The Honorable Shyne Together?
It was very much overlapped. It was not in the beginning of the film. We were just moving along and their relationship had been mended, and so we were very comfortable with the clearances on that end, just knowing that the bridge was built back between the two of them. So obviously as we got later into 2023, things started to shift. That was a big concern. We had not started clearing any of the songs yet because we were doing a deal that we really needed to know, the type of deal that we were doing, we needed to know what all the uses would be before we went to get everything cleared.
So we had not started actually, we had done research, but we had not started actually moving on sending the paperwork out yet. And so as the events began to unfold and they were very much a snowball, there was one thing, it was a trickle and it got bigger and bigger and bigger. And it just honestly, still to this day, keeps getting bigger.
It was very concerning and scary. Shyne’s music is essential to the film. We absolutely had to include his music in order to really properly tell his story. I don’t know how we could have released this film with no Shyne music in it. So it was a very scary time. And we were so lucky. We have such great partners at the labels and at the publishers who worked really closely with us. It did not happen quickly. It definitely took a long time.
Once we were ready to go ahead and send our paperwork out, there was a long time between sending our requests out and getting the actual approvals in. That was a very stressful time. We were using any connections that we had from our side, from our community, to reach out to anyone that we could on the other side to make sure that the importance of the film was expressed. And that obviously it just doesn’t make sense to make a film without Shyne’s music. So we just really needed everybody to approve. And they did.
All the approvals came through. We did not have, aside from clearance issues, we had no songs that were denied for any other reason. So we’re super grateful that everybody who was on their side, who was dealing with a lot because of the events that were unfolding, they were able to come together and realize the importance of him being able to use his own music in the film.
This film is not about Diddy. It’s not about his events. This is about Shyne. This is the other thing we kept expressing to them. This is not a film about that. We’re not making a film about whatever he’s going through. We’re making a film about Shyne and his journey. And Diddy is intricately woven into that journey.
His part of the story is told, of course, but then we leave it there. We leave it where it happens and we move on from it. We continue to tell Shyne’s story because his story continues as we know now after his time in jail, after he was linked to Diddy, he has a whole other life now. And we tell that story too.
Would You Say That Was Your Biggest Challenge When Getting This Documentary Done?
Yeah, it was a hundred percent the biggest challenge and, now reflecting on it, I’m like, well, it all worked out. So it’s okay. But it was definitely tough.
We were in the thick of it and obviously had no idea that this was going to happen and then where it was going to go after it happened and how it was going to continue to unfold and all the way up to an arrest. That whole section was, when we were clearing the songs, it was late 2023 until basically August of this year.
What Can You Tease About Your Upcoming Project, Long Bright River?
I’m so excited about this project. It’s different from anything I’ve done. I haven’t done a drama like this before, so I’m super excited for everybody to see it. It’s called Long Bright River. It’s based on the book of the same name. It’s a murder mystery that takes place in Philadelphia.
It’s very Philly, the music is Philly, and the scene is very Philly. Amanda Seyfried plays a cop whose sister has disappeared. She’s trying to both investigate that and also a series of murders of some of the working girls of the streets there. It’s a crazy thriller that unfolds.
There are so many shocking twists and turns. My jaw dropped many times reading the script and watching the cuts. So it’s really, really good. It’s super enthralling. Out on Peacock. I’m not sure if we know the date yet. I think it’s in the spring. I’m very, very excited about that one. And Amanda is amazing in it.
Her character plays English horn, and so she learned it and she really played it. She’s so talented. It’s crazy. She’s such an amazing talent, just acting and everything and her commitment. She’s really dope. So I’m very much excited for it.
About The Honorable Shyne
The Honorable Shyne tells the remarkable story of Moses “Shyne” Barrow, the Grammy Award-winning musician turned politician. A rising star in the late 1990s, Shyne’s promising rap career was cut short after being charged in a high-profile New York nightclub shooting, along with rap impresario Sean “Puffy” Combs.
Shyne was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to ten years in prison, while Combs was acquitted. After prison, Shyne reemerged in his native Belize, where he transitioned from music to politics, ultimately becoming the Leader of Opposition Party. His journey is one of redemption, resilience, and transformation.
This documentary provides an intimate look at Shyne’s personal evolution as he navigates fame, incarceration and a return home to Belize, where he finds new purpose and strives to lead his country to a brighter future.
The Honorable Shyne is streaming now on Hulu.
