R. A. Thorburn, better known as R.A. the Rugged Man, is a rapper from Suffolk County, New York on Long Island, who with his father lived in over 20 addresses through out the area. He began his music career at age 12. At 18, he signed to Jive Records as part of the group Crustified Dibbs (A vehicle for R.A. and producer Nigga Niles). Due to violent and disgusting behavior R.A. was blackballed and feared by music industry executives throughout much of the 1990's. Effectively banned from all major record labels, R.A. honed his skills on the underground scene, working with such artists as Notorious B.I.G, Mobb Deep,Tragedy Khadafi, various Wu-Tang Clan affiliates (Killah Priest, Timbo King, Masta Killa, Hell Razah), Jedi Mind Tricks, Agallah, Sadat X, Akinyele, Prince Paul, Prince Po, Craig G, Company Flow, and J-Live, as well as producers Erick Sermon, Trackmasters, DJ Quik, Alchemist, J-Zone, Binky Mac of Allfrumtha I, Stoupe The Enemy Of Mankind, Bronze Nazareth, and Ayatollah. He was featured on all three of Rawkus’s Soundbombing albums, as well as the platinum-selling WWF Aggression album. In 2004 R.A. released his long awaited debut album "Die, Rugged Man, Die" which received good reviews and sold very well on an independent level. ego trip, Vol. 1, Issue 3 quoted Notorious B.I.G as saying "I thought I was the illest." referring to R.A. The Rugged Man. R.A.'s signature rhyming style, which frequently includes verses full of internally rhymed words, delivered in a relentless, machine-gun style:
Hospitable, hittable, cooler than Digable, criminal
Miracle-lyrical, take every syllable literal
it'll riddle, profitable, visible, irritable
ya little brittle, pitiful, fists'ill do little, you tickle, you typical.
~ R.A. the Rugged Man feat. Killah Priest & Masta Killa - Chains
Coming from a broken Long Island home, R.A.'s father was a gun toting Vietnam veteran/mental patient allegedly affected by Agent Orange. His family was forever changed by the potent chemical — his brother Maxx was born handicapped and blind, eventually dying at the age of 10, while his sister Dee Ann couldn’t walk or speak. R.A. tells the story of his father Staff Sgt John A. Thorburn in the first person on the Jedi Mind Tricks track "Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story". His verse received quotable of the month in Source magazine. R.A. notes that he himself has suffered from mental illness in the past, in lyrics from the song "Lessons".
R.A. has cameo's in several music videos including Havoc from Mobb Deep's "Im the boss", Sadat X's "Throw the Ball" and "Old Man" featuring Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, Masta Killa and Ol' Dirty Bastard in one of ODB's final video appearances. His favourite Emcee is Kool G Rap, who he has talked about performing a collabaration with in the future.
In addition to his hip-hop notoriety, R.A. writes a monthly movie column for Mass Appeal magazine, is a contributor to The Ego Trip Book of Rap Lists (St. Martin's Press) and Ego Trip's Big Book of Racism (Harper Collins), and has written numerous articles for other magazines including Vibe, King, Complex, Rides and Source. Mr. Rugged has also recently signed a book deal that will explore his love of boxing to be co-authored with Max Boxing's Doug Fischer and scheduled for publication in 2008 from Testify / Powerhouse Books.
A horror-film fan, R.A. has written three screenplays with cult-film director Frank Henenlotter -- "Sick in the Head," "Love is Hell," and is writer/producer of a new Frank Henenlotter film titled Bad Biology scheduled for release 2008. The film has an original score by Prince Paul and cameos by Playboy Model Jelena Jensen and Penthouse Pet Krista Ayne.
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