Shyheim’s debut album, AKA the Rugged Child was released on the 19th of April, 1994, the same day as the release of Illmatic. Shyheim was 14 at the time of the release and recieved critical acclaim. Sparking a hit single, “On And On”, which was remixed by DJ Premier and other songs such as “One’s 4 Da Money” and “Pass It Off”, which had a remix featuring Big Daddy Kane. The original album release was intended to be at least a year earlier, however in an interview, Shyheim states that he, being a minor, had to go through supreme courts when getting signed and therefore preparing his album took longer than it was supposed to. Shyheim was a Wu affilate, the youngest in fact, but was signed before Wu-Tang.