R.A. The Rugged Man – Legends Never Die

R.A. The Rugged Man – Legends Never Die
Nature Sounds: 2013

Legends Never Die might only be R.A. The Rugged Man’s second studio album, (a follow-up to his 2004 debut Die, Rugged Man, Die), but heads know who he is. Even if the output hasn’t been his own, over the years he’s continually shown up to provide other rapper’s tracks with a shot of hulking aggression or grimy wit.

One reason that his profile isn’t higher is that those that he has helped out have largely been from within if not his circle then certainly his region of the sonic world, acts like Jedi Mind Tricks, Ruste Juxx and Mobb Deep, i.e. acts that thoroughly represent the old school East Coast gullyness that he has become part of the DNA of. This is hardly surprising, though; barely a few seconds into Legends Never Die, R.A. is ragging on mainstream music and the pop world, and the record is full to bursting with references to his realness and the superiority it affords him. As such, he is not only at odds with commercial music, but also the burgeoning Beast Coast movement that has caught much of the limelight shining on his hometown lately; there is little to no spirituality here, almost no joyful mention of drugs, and no real experimentation. Instead, the Rugged Man decides to carry on tradition, continuing with his signature aggressive style and placing himself effortlessly and purposefully in the same bracket as MCs like Vinnie Paz and Blaq Poet.

If that understandably sets a few alarm bells ringing, there are a couple of things you should know about R.A. before you judge him. First off, he has an admittedly gross but nevertheless gregarious humor that shows itself frequently and often dominates whole songs at a time. It’s an important facet of the record given how many modern day old school minded NY MCs seem to consciously jettison wit in favour of pure bland and reactionary aggression. Over the course of Legends Never Die, Rugged Man claims to “drink wine with Jesus ‘til I’m in a drunken stupor/ Then slap box God and sumo wrestle with Bhuda”, commands you to suck his balls and gargle his piss, and talks of taking a shit on your floor and your car’s dashboard. Like I said, a little gross, and hardly what you’d call subtle, but these frequent moments are a good reminder of how a through and through street hip-hop album doesn’t have to be dour and can still be fun without really sacrificing any of its grit, (as long as you’re into that kind of thing).

The second thing that allows R.A. to leap frog most of his self-imposed competition is his ability; on a technical level, he is a rapper of truly gargantuan skill. This is, remember, a dude who was co-signed by and collaborated with Biggie himself, (on a song entitled “Cunt Renaissance”, no less). He mostly sticks to an at times absurdly rapid fire machine gun flow, and he’s had it down to an art for some time. Moments like the opening few bars of “Bang Boogie” represent this the best, in which a slow, drunken sway of horns is laid to waste by stacked up syllables that at first sound like they shouldn’t fit at all, but somehow totally do.

It’s also remarkable how he manages to maintain a base level of wordiness amidst the rhythmic intricacies of his rapping style; and make no mistake, he does get wordy. He might have that devilish humor, but he still manages to wax political, rattle off inventive threats, and even devote one heartfelt song to the fascinating story of and his close relationship to his recently deceased Vietnam vet father.

Naturally, (being his own record), R.A. himself is the main draw here, and it’s extremely unlikely that the beats will impress anyone nearly as much as the bars. Some of them are great, (the anarchic stomp of “Holla-Loo-Yuh”, the choir-meets-boom-bap of early standout “The People’s Champ”, the snatches of beat-box on “Tom Thum”), some decent, (“Shoot Me In The Head”), some turgid and dull, (the overly sombre Talib Kweli collab “Learn Truth”), but almost entirely unsurprising. When it is, results vary; “Definition of A Rap Flow” is a satisfyingly accurate pastiche of early ’90s Native Tongue style rap, but “Legends Never Die (Daddy’s Halo)” is mired by Disney-like acoustic guitar fuckery. This record isn’t built to surprise, though; it’s built to make people laugh, scowl, and marvel at a man indulging in an impressive adeptness at a particular skill. It offers nothing new, but it’s unequivocally a great hardcore rap record. If that happens to be your thing, you could hardly do better. If it’s not, R.A. would probably tell you that he wasn’t trying to speak to you anyway.

3.5 out of 5