Legends Never Die.

In 2013, a man released an album. Although he was a hip hop prodigy since the age of 12, and had a nine label bidding war to sign him when he was 18, over 20 years ago, this album is only his second official album. This might seem impossible for anyone of talent, and maybe this sounds more like a flash-in-the-pan artist than anyone viable. However with a closer look at his career, we see how this industry fall from grace occurred for the famous infamous rapper, R.A. the Rugged Man. In 1992, after signing to Jive Records as a 19 year old, he immediately begun recording his first album Night of the Bloody Apes under the moniker Crustified Dibbs. Somewhere over two years of recording, things went awry. Though Dibbs had undeniable talent and creativity, with a guest appearance from The Notorious B.I.G. to boot, he made a fundamental error too early in his career. He attacked the record labels. Now maybe some tongue-in-cheek label lashing is fine for veterans, or if it’s a one-off on the album. But when your album is already rife with songs about murder, sex, prostitution and a litany of other taboo materials, biting the the hand that feeds you might not turn out as planned. The album was consequently shelved and R.A. was unable to release another album through a proper label for a decade.

Since then, Crustified Dibbs became R.A. the Rugged Man, Jive Records dropped Rugged, and Priority picked him up, only to drop him again after shelving another album, American Lowlife. Considered blacklisted from the industry he found it very hard to release any of his own music or even appear on other rappers’ hits, as detailed in a recent interview with him and friend, Method Man. Though cropping up on an odd indie hip hop track every now and then, Rugged struggled to get back into the game. The man widely known as the most famous for being unknown, was finally picked up again by the underground label Nature Sounds around 2004. From then on the story gets better, that year saw the release of his first official LP, the underground hit Die, Rugged Man, Die, and has also been featured on numerous Soundbombing compilations over the years from Rawkus Records.

Finally, it seems our hero has gotten a break. Legends Never Die was universally acclaimed a contemporary hip hop masterpiece by music critics industry wide, and he continues to tour the album to this day. Upon even the most cursory listens, it is plain to see why. Gone are the days of limited guest appearances and no-name producers. Gone is the shock value rap and, surprisingly, the bitterness. This album doesn’t read like a triumphant return to the music scene, but just another talented musician out there doing what he loves to do. Now don’t get me wrong, vulgarity will always be a part of Rugged’s act as demonstrated fantastically on his humourous R&B/hip-hop crossover Luv to Fuk (with Eamon of all people… Eamon!), and the raw track Sam Peckinpah featuring Vinnie Paz of Jedi Mind Tricks and Sadat X of Brand Nubian. Of course, he still hasn’t lost his cheeky side either, as the song Underground Hitz demonstrates, with a clear motive of taking jabs at what he perceives as tropes in the ‘alternative mainstream’. But not everything is fun and games, Learn Truth with Talib Kweli gives Rugged some space to talk about touchier subjects like the dark side of American society, whereas in Holla-Loo-Yah, he gets into a more sinister and violent space with the help of veterans Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko. My favourite aspect of Rugged’s game, however, is not when he’s joking around or delivering powerful messages, but when he does what he does best, lays down some old school style hip hop. The Dangerous Three is a shout out to the early 2000s style of post G-Funk gangster/hardcore rap, and with the Midwest champion Brother Ali and golden era legend Masta Ace backing him up, it’s no surprise it’s an instant classic. Definition of a Rap Flow takes it for me on the album, R.A. brings it back to the basics with a hip-hop track reminiscent of the 90s, focused on simple production and great lyrics. A catchy beat carries you along a song revolving around showing off classic rap skills and braggadocio, with an R&B hook to tie the whole thing together.

The title of the album acts as a microcosm for R.A. the Rugged Man’s career. Although the industry threw everything it had at him, kicking him off major labels, shelving his early works, banning him from recording with other artists, Rugged persevered. The reason why is simple. Legends Never Die.