Shyheim
b. Shyheim Franklin, 14 November 1977, Staten Island, New York, USA. This child prodigy, whose debut album was recorded when he was only 14, did not take kindly to comparisons to Kriss Kross et al. He had first come to hip-hop via the sounds of LL Cool J and Run-DMC, and as a child learnt to rap along with them before graduating to verses of his own. His break came when producer RNS heard him rapping on the street in front of his block in Stapleton Projects, a dwelling he also shared with the young Shyheim. Together they worked on demos in RNS' studio, before attracting the interest of Virgin Records. More talented than most, Shyheim's depiction of inner ghetto violence did strike a chord, and was not related to the tedious bragging of many rap artists. His "On And On" single, for example, contained the somehow touching line: "Ain't never had a good Christmas, So who's Santa Claus?". Compared by many to a young Rakim, Shyheim's posse of homeboys (Do Lil's, Rubberbandz, KD, the Down Low Wrecker) were all present on his 1994 debut album, as were his "brother artists", the Wu-Tang Clan. Shyheim's affiliation with the latter crew helped raise his profile in rap circles, although this did not help the critical or commercial reception of his second album, The Lost Generation. After a period spent concentrating on his acting career, Shyheim returned to the mic to record his third long-player, Manchild.
Listen to Shyheim
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Albums
Top Tracks
- On and On (Explicit)
- Young Godz (Featuring Madman, Rubbabandz, Killa Sin and Raekwon)
- Napsack (Explicit)
- Buckwylyn (Explicit)
- One's 4 Da Money (Explicit)
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