Long before Destiny’s Child attempted to get ‘street cred’ by claiming they needed a “Soldier,” or Rihanna was playfully challenging her “Rude Boy”, the original bad-ass MC Lyte spoke up for a lot of ladies who love thugs, bad boys & gangsters with “Ruffneck” – the first single from her fourth album Ain’t No Other.

The song was produced by Wreckx-n-Effect members Aqil Davidson and Markel Riley, who built track on a sample of James Brown’s “The Payback”. It was Lyte’s first top 40 single in the US and her fourth to hit #1 on the Rap Chart. It was also her first to be certified gold by the RIAA and gave her the honor of being the first female solo rapper to get a Grammy nomination.