R.A. The Rugged Man kick’s off the “All My Heroes Are Dead” Tour tonight in Pontiac at the Crofoot Lounge.
Welcome back to the ROX-TV website. I have some breaking news for those of you who haven’t heard about the diabolical tour kicking off in Pontiac tonight. That’s right, it’s all going down at the Crofoot Lounge in the infamous Pike Room to be exact. ROX-TV and Cruisin The Barrio are teaming up to cover the event righteously with boots on the ground (technically we are rocking Chuck Taylor’s but who’s counting). The Rude Boy, DJ Carlito, and myself will be on the scene to catch all the hip hop flavor we can handle Los Drifters style.
R.A. The Rugged Man is a rare breed in the world of hip hop and has worn many hats over the years including being considered a rising star, only to be banished to the outer limits, before re-emerging as an underground hero to hip hop heads everywhere. R.A. The Rugged Man has worked with the absolute cream of the crop when it comes to big names including The Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang, Public Enemy, Rakim, Mobb Deep, Tech N9ne, Kool G Rap, and many more.
Hailing from Suffolk County, Long Island R.A. The Rugged Man was a fast rising unsigned MC who actually started a bidding war between several record labels at the time, before finally signing with Jive Records. Like with all wild cats, his crazy antics and living on the razor’s edge caught up with him leading to venue banning’s, including recording studios and labels. This was not the end of the tale though, as R.A. The Rugged Man would roar back to life in the late 90’s, printing up 12′ inch singles and pushing his sound on the streets. His efforts would lead to a gold record for his work on the WWE Aggression Album. This guy got around, so much so that he even had time to fuck with video games, including Tony Hawk’s Underground (which by the way sold millions of copies).
When he wasn’t dropping cluster bombs, he also dabbled in journalism, interviewing world champion boxers and Academy Award winning film makers for outlets like Complex and Vibe. This assassin of the written words last album “Legends Never Die” debuted at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. He’s played sold out shows around the world and so much more. More than my stoner brain can express this early in the day so I will cite the man’s website for his own explanation:
(Excerpt borrowed briefly from https://ratheruggedman.net/pages/about )
“So many of the greats are gone, and the legends who made it out alive are cast aside,” R.A. says. “Society left our heroes and their culture for dead. We have to dig that greatness out of its grave, and bring it back with an angry vengeance.” While Legends Never Die was dedicated to the memory of his father, All My Heroes Are Dead is R.A.’s first album since becoming a father of two himself. “When you have children, that’s a whole other level of joy and pain and emotion,” he describes. “It opens whole entire universes with the pen.” The music covers a wide range of moods, and transcends hip-hop clichés. “I didn’t want to make a whole album of just destroying rappers and rapping better than everyone.” the Rugged Man explains. “There’s a lot of places my albums take you, and there’s way more storytelling on this one. I love to bring listeners into different worlds.”
Now available worldwide, “All My Heroes Are Dead” features an all-star cast of hip-hop heavyweights, including Chuck D, Slug of Atmosphere, Ghostface Killah, Immortal Technique, Vinnie Paz, Ice–T, M.O.P., Kool G Rap, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Onyx, Brand Nubian, Chris Rivers, Inspectah Deck, A-F-R-O, Masta Killa, and more. (end of text borrow from the R.A. The Rugged Man website https://ratheruggedman.net)
So there it is, this hip hop icon is dope as hell, has a history jacket longer than the line at the Secretary of State, and he’s coming to the Murder Mitten tonight. I don’t know what else you’d be doing on a grey and rainy day such as this, so you might as well get your dead ass off the couch and down to Pontiac for what is guaranteed to be a rocked out show. I will be on hand of course, gathering up the very best content to report back to you, the readers at ROX-TV so do not despair. I’ve been known to get down at barn burners in the past and the whole city of Pontiac might be leveled by morning.
This will be my triumphant return to seeing a rap show in Pontiac. For the readers with a long memory, I wrote an article about attending the No Limit Soldiers Concert at the Pontiac Silverdome in August of 1998. For people that know or care, that show ended with a full scale riot and led to a ban on rap concerts at the Dome. It’s been over twenty years since I sat in row 17 seat 23, taking in a show in Pontiac and fate has decided that it is time for me to revisit the city for what is sure to be just as spectacular.
Lets roll out the Michigan Red Carpet and show R.A. The Rugged Man how we get down in the Murder Mitten. Be there or be square… (If your reading this homie, I want an autograph G)
Signing Off,
Mike Shepard
ROX-TV Head Writer
kidvicious810 on IG
