''AKA the Rugged Child'' is the debut studio album by American rapper

Shyheim Shyheim Dionel Franklin (born November 14, 1979) is an American rapper from New York better known simply as Shyheim. He initially gained fame as a teenager, releasing his debut album ''AKA the Rugged Child'' at the age of 14 in 1994. He has sp ...

. It was released on April 19, 1994 via

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

was entirely handled by RNS, except for 1 song produced by

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name RZA ( ) or the RZA, is an American rapper, record producer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is the '' de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having pro ...

. It features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from

GP Wu GP Wu (short for Gladiator Posse) was an American hip hop group consisting of four members, Pop Da Brown Hornet, Down Low Recka, Rubbabandz and June Luva. The group formed in 1986 and were one of the many affiliates of the Wu-Tang Clan. All four ...

, Du-Lilz, Kwazi, Prophet and Kia Jeffries. The album peaked at #52 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and at #7 on

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

in the United States. Its

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

, "On and On", peaked at #89 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart.

Track listing

Samples

*"Here Come the Hits" **"Can I Get Some Help" by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

**"Harmony of the Underground" by

Blue Mitchell Richard Allen "Blue" Mitchell (March 13, 1930 – May 21, 1979) was an American trumpeter and composer who worked in jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock and funk. He recorded albums as leader and sideman for Riverside, Mainstream Records, and Bl ...

*"On and On" **"Opus Pocus" by

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, also known as Jaco Pastorius (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time, ...

*"Pass It Off" **"Don't Change Your Love" by

Five Stairsteps The Five Stairsteps, known as "The First Family of Soul" and later "The Invisible Man's Band", were an American Chicago soul group made up of five of Betty and Clarence Burke Sr.'s six children: Alohe Jean, Clarence Jr., James, Dennis, and K ...

**"You've Got It Bad" by

Richard "Groove" Holmes Richard Arnold "Groove" Holmes (May 2, 1931 – June 29, 1991) was an American jazz organist who performed in the hard bop and soul jazz genre. He is best known for his 1965 recording of "Misty". Career Holmes's first album, on Pacific Jazz ...

*"One's 4 Da Money" **"Cristo Rendentor" by

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few h ...

**"

Top Billin' "Top Billin'" is a single for American hip-hop duo Audio Two, released as the B-side of the single "Make It Funky" from the album '' What More Can I Say?'' It was released before First Priority Music signed a distribution deal with Atlantic Recor ...

" by

Audio Two Audio Two was the Brooklyn, New York hip hop duo of rapping, emcee Kirk "Milk Dee" Robinson and DJ Nat "Gizmo" Robinson, best known for their first hit "Top Billin'". History The duo's debut single, "Make it Funky", was released in 1987, bu ...

**"Blue Suede Shoes" by

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

*"Here I Am" **"Pain" by the

Ohio Players Ohio Players are an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire" and " Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of the women were models f ...

*"Buckwylyn" **"Donkey Walk" by

Lou Donaldson Louis Andrew Donaldson Jr. (November 1, 1926 – November 9, 2024) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist. He was best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was he ...

**"Just to Get a Rep" by

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American Hip-hop, hip hop duo, consisting of Houston-born record producer DJ Premier and Boston-based rapper Guru (rapper), Guru. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2003, and is considered a widely influential MC-and-pr ...

*"You the Man" **"No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)" by Booker T. & the M.G.'s *"Napsack" **"

Wishin' and Hopin' "Wishin' and Hopin" is a song, written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, which was a US Top 10 hit for Dusty Springfield in 1964. History The song was first recorded by Dionne Warwick in the fall of 1962, and was the B-side of Warwick's sing ...

" by

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

**"Kool is Back" by

Funk Inc. Funk, Inc. was an American jazz funk/soul jazz group, founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, in 1969 by Bobby Watley, Eugene Barr, Steve Weakley, Jimmy Munford and Cecil Hunt. During the 1970s they were signed to the Prestige Records l ...

**"Crab Apple" by

Idris Muhammad Idris Muhammad (; born Leo Morris; November 13, 1939 – July 29, 2014) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He had an extensive career performing jazz, funk, Rhythm and blues, R&B, and Soul music, soul music and recorded with musicians s ...

**"Microphone Fiend" by Eric B. & Rakim *"The Rugged Onez" **"In The Mood" by

Leroy Hutson Leroy Hutson (born June 4, 1945) is an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, arranger, producer and instrumentalist, best known as former lead singer of R&B vocal group The Impressions. His music concerns 1970s soul, as noted in the June ...

**"For Pete's Sake" by

Pete Rock & CL Smooth Pete Rock & CL Smooth were an American hip hop duo from Mount Vernon, New York. They made their debut with their 1991 EP, '' All Souled Out'' and followed that with their 1992 LP ''Mecca and the Soul Brother''. Career 1991–1994: The Golden Ag ...

*"Party's Goin' On" **"After Laughter (Come Tears)" by

Wendy Rene Mary Frierson, later Mary Cross (1947 – December 16, 2014),

Charts

References

External links

Shyheim albums 1994 debut albums Virgin Records albums Albums produced by RZA {{1990s-hiphop-album-stub