Chaz Kangas, writer for The New York Times and Complex Magazine, has announced an R.A. the Rugged Man autobiography.
The project, which was announced on ratheruggedman.net, will be penned by R.A. with Kangas.
The Long Island emcee’s career goes back to the early 90s, and even collaborated with the Notorious B.I.G.
Other artists to recently get the autobiographical treament are Common and Prodigy.
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Read the announcement below:
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“R.A. has lived such an unbelievable life, it reads as if every urban legend you heard as a kid not only actually happened, but all happened to the same person! If the average life story of a rapper is an up-and-down roller-coaster ride, RA’s is an entire amusement park. Considering how he’s been surrounded by death, hardships, hookers, riots, blacklisting, lawsuits and infamous industry beefs, perhaps the most shocking thing about him is how the full story has gone untold. That is, until now.
Beyond countless industry tales of violence, sexual harassment charges, deranged depravity and stories involving the likes of Russell Simmons, The Wu-Tang Clan, Notorious BIG, Puff Daddy, Eminem and Mobb Deep, with this autobiography we hope to also explore R.A.’s hinted-at family life. The story of the Thorburns is one of the most compelling portraits of a post-everything American family I’ve ever come across. Following his father’s stint in Vietnam (as covered in RA’s award-winning verse from the song “Uncommon Valor”) they endured disease, poverty and death, yet had a strong enough foundation to be the most stable broken home you’ll ever find. Due to his father being affected by Agent Orange during the war, R.A.’s sister Dee-Dee was born unable to both speak or walk; his brother Maxx was born paralyzed and blind. R.A’s older sister Lisa married the infamous ex-Pagan motorcycle outlaw ‘One Eye’ Jay. from the constant array of thugs, religious zealots and alleged murderers to the FEDS raiding the Thorburn’s family home, the whole truth will finally be revealed
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There are very few books on Rap or Rap artists in the marketplace, and far too many are preoccupied with authors making a grand social statement or selling you their college thesis. With R.A.’s autobiography, I hope to accurately paint a picture of one of the most turbulent musical forces who has outlasted several generations of his peers and maintained a constant relevance in a genre whose attention span borders on non-existant. It’s the uncensored, unfiltered life of a rap artist in the rap industry who makes rap music, and it’s going to give your local bookstores a much needed dose of Ruggedness.”
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