Music Review

AKA the Rugged Child (1994)

EW's GRADE
B

Details Lead Performance: Shyheim; Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap

A member of the now-famous rap collective, the Wu-Tang Clan, this 15-year-old Staten Island rapper traverses familiar rough-and-rugged hip-hop terrain. Fortunately for Shyheim, his slight, nimble voice gives him a vulnerability that infuses his debut album AKA the Rugged Child with humanity — that is, if you get behind tough-guy boasts like "touch my knapsack, boy, you're gettin' bitch-smacked." B

Originally posted Jun 03, 1994 Published in issue #225 Jun 03, 1994 Order article reprints

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