Shamele Mackie (born March 5, 1978), better known by his stage name Papoose /pæˈpuːs/, is an American rapper. After breaking into the rap game in 2005 with DJ Kayslay with the release of his song "Alphabetical Slaughter" he signed a 1.5 million dollar contract with Jive Records. After his debut studio album, The Nacirema Dream would be shelved and he would cut ties with Jive. This would result in him releasing over a dozen free mixtapes to keep himself popular. In 2012 he secured a deal with Fontana Distribution and released his debut album independently on March 26, 2013.