R.A. The Rugged Man

R.A. the Rugged Man, real name R.A. Thorburn, is a rapper from Long Island. He began his career at age 12. At 18, he signed to Jive Records, but eventually was dropped because of his violent and irresponsible behavior. He has worked with Mobb Deep, Smut Peddlers and Notorious B.I.G, as well as producers Erick Sermon, Trackmasters, DJ Quik, Alchemist, J Zone, and Ayatollah. He was featured on all three of Rawkus?s Soundbombing albums, as well as the platinum selling WWF Aggression album.

Related Topics:
Mobb Deep - Smut Peddlers - Notorious B.I.G - Erick Sermon - Trackmasters - DJ Quik - Alchemist - J Zone - Ayatollah - Rawkus

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Coming from a broken Long Island home, R.A.?s father was a gun toting Vietnam veteran/mental patient 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.

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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, and Source. Mr. Rugged has also recently signed a book deal that will explore his maniacal love of boxing to be co-authored with Max Boxing's Doug Fischer and scheduled for publication in spring '06 from Testify / Powerhouse Books.

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A rabid horror-film fan, R.A. has written three screenplays with cult-film director Frank Henenlotter -- "Sick in the Head," "Love is Hell," and "Twisted Sex" -- the latter of which is scheduled for production in '06 with R.A. as co-producer.

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R.A. has a brother called Johnny-O who was not affected by Agent Orange. He likes rockabilly music.

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