Necessary Roughness is the only studio album by American hip-hop artist the Lady of Rage. The album was released on June 24, 1997. Necessary Roughness was largely produced by Daz Dillinger, with contributions from Easy Mo Bee and DJ Premier. The album peaked at No. 32 on the Billboard 200 on July 12, 1997. Necessary Roughness was the last Death Row album to be distributed by Interscope Records.