RA the Rugged Man on Spicy Hip Hop Takes and Agent Orange

[@DasherBeats]

i can listen to RA talk all day

[@phokisraps]

One of the best moments in my life was meeting ra and watching him perform live. Beautiful soul he is.

[@LimitNZ]

Always like listening to RA.

[@jamesbuswell40]

Dope interview! Hip hop lives 1❤

[@49erNell]

Yo R.A. is 100% correct that Kool G Rap would body Jay-Z on anything lyrically! Facto!

[@mamba4817]

Really depends on what you particular value more in the craft of a lyricist. Jay got verses on Reasonable Doubt and Black album as strong as anything from Kool G. Both greats, 2 different styles

[@slobodanjevtovic7102]

I think you have to sometimes pair rappers at the same exact time. We can compare Jay-Z and Kool G Rap from 90-2004 year for year and tally up who wins what year.

[@justinsaliva2050]

RA is a beast on the mic and the stage. I saw him open up for ICP and he killed it.

[@greenbackz]

same. ICP was rapping over entire vocal tracks it was pathetic after seeing rugged man destroy the mic.

[@marlondaniels7912]

He was better than Michael Jackson.

[@Grimlore82]

Massive fan of both. RA needs to do some collabs with them. Also with Twiztid. I just want all my favorite rappers to do collabs 😂

[@beatsbymayo4142]

Shoutout to Touré for a dope interview!🔥

[@suuuuuu1701]

RA is a rap historian always putting on a clinic!

[@stephanodixon619]

Shout out to RA, I think it's dope that he mentioned Nas's 'What Goes Around' that been a Nas gem of mine for years and I often think how much that song is still relevant.

[@flowrhymes2706]

The Legend Himself, RA the Rugged Man 💯👑

[@SomethingGamecatAdjacent]

So glad this showed up on my feed

[@blitheringrando1410]

I've never been a big 80s rap fan but I can't help but appreciate R.A.'s extensive knowledge of it. He makes me want to dive into it and give it a shot. A real fun dude to listen to, lots of interesting thoughts

[@circumcisionersjar]

Listen to Public Enemy's "it takes a nation of millions to hold us back" I listened to it the first time a few weeks ago. The album is back loaded in my opinion, as the production gets louder and crazier the later you get into it. Edit: thought this would be helpful as I discovered it recently and am not biased by nostalgia

[@conorkane4203]

Love the guy. I'm a hip hop junkie. I listen to R A alot as much as listen to WU and Nas, as well newer shit like kevin gates and others. Took a long time for me to get over the 90s and shit. But R A, the albums I hear came out in the 2000s it is what is....

[@Buttatones]

Great interview. L.I. Legend

[@49erNell]

KRS-One is thé best emcee period.

[@Michael_Douglas007]

Ra the rugged man is one of my favorite rappers. But I do prefer the 90s and the aughts over the 80s. But I legitimately think I have it figured out. What ever music you connect with when your first being blasted off into hormones and puberty - that’s your shit for the rest of your life. That has to be it

[@Multiply187]

It's that, but also he saw a whole complex intricate genre of music being created and experimented with in front of his eyes. Eighties saw the FASTEST advancement of the craft out of all decades, and that must have been mind blowing even for adults at the time

[@courtneymarques1969]

It is

[@DanCross-s6t]

Can't believe people still try to put commercial rappers above pioneers

[@mamba4817]

The music got better in the 90s, the styles more refined, and the beats more artistic and creative , and a sound that became timeless. No disrespect to the 80s legends which deserve all their flowers, but stuff like 36 Chambers, Illmatic, It Was Written, Only Built for Cuban Links, Reasonable Doubt, The Infamous, Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, then Mos Def and DMX and on, it all took the qualities of MCing of the 80s but also evolved the music artistically into something truly viable and fully formed. It still evolved today, just not popular.

[@stillgotyourmom]

Rappers never will admit that it needed a pop influence to structure music. Most of the legendary hits were and are produced by the pop label figures not the DJs on the block.

[@gaberezin612]

I couldn't agree more

[@l.ahlgren7752]

I get your point but disagree on the creativeness - with production techniques being solidified, styles began to solidify and become popular. Groups became carbon copies of one another (how many Onyx or Mobb Deep clones' were out?). Also, people weren't living what they were saying (I call this the "triple-beam" everybody had used a triple-beam at one time. Ain't everybody hard). '88-'89 there were complete albums that were so diverse. The sampling law suits that came about a yr. after that knocked holes in those styles of albums, but at least we got them for a little while.

[@thigpen79]

Toure I wish you would let your guests finish a sentence.

[@godlessinsurgent1895]

g rap WOULD body jay, how is that even questioned?

[@iceninjaman3685]

RA bodies everybody don't be mistaken

[@iceninjaman3685]

You're right but nobody🎉 is looking after bodies like RA

[@iceninjaman3685]

This can't be a top comment RA is too hard!

[@slobodanjevtovic7102]

I don’t know if he would body 96’ Jay

[@connorvdl2902]

96 hov is dead, so it doesn’t matter imo

[@MMC.Official]

Your audio and video are way out of synch... sorry but it's unwatchable

[@christopherwilson6045]

🤣

[@rickyredhookbk9048]

As a white kid from Brooklyn & Massachusetts took a lot for being a bBoy. In Brooklyn in 81-86 living with dad I’d be sneaking out the house at 2am to go bomb walls & trains. Break dancing during the day. I’d take that back to Massachusetts when go to see Mom where Id take alot from other kids (white & black) for trying to be black. But funny they later caught on and I had to give it back.🤣

[@ABMcorp33]

Legend

[@PaPaFresh]

Dope interview

[@lokicoqui8917]

Salute RA ! Legends never die ! 💯

[@lp211_]

Snoop not even good, he's just got swag out the ass

[@Trudon]

Nah 90s hip hop is goated

[@SkribbalOfficial]

Thats your opinion. But 90s rap wouldnt exist if it wasnt for those from the 80s and late 70s. So if 90s rap is goated, 80s rap is daddy goat 🐐 🤔 🤷

[@slobodanjevtovic7102]

For sure 90's over 80's

[@AzAkh60]

Quality of albums in the 90s overall def surpassed the 80s imo

[@mamba4817]

​​@@SkribbalOfficialthat's a whole different argument. There's no MJ without Jerry West but clearly MJ was superior. 90s took it to another level artistically while still keeping all the great MC qualities

[@stillgotyourmom]

​@@SkribbalOfficialIf you argue like this you can always say but the before but the before 😂 90s had more worldwide distribution while the 80s was more local.

[@mkjazz3418]

Great interview! Love ra

[@FiLipiNoJezus]

RA is the goat, a god emcee.. I couldn’t stop smiling when I saw him perform. Even when he started talking about his family members (RIP) my dumbass was still smiling. He did not appreciate that. I’m sorry RA

[@goldenlion8123]

I AGREE..THE 80'S HAD MORE PROMISE, 90'S JUST WENT TOTALLY BONKERS WHEN WE SHOULD'VE ELEVATED..

[@twizrock7081]

Krs1 would obliterate snoop ! And I’m a snoop fan ….

[@DabNaggit]

KRS1 is pedophile-defending garbage.

[@Multiply187]

​@@DabNaggityes, but that's not what's being discussed

[@enderprefect342]

I'm here after Not Like Us, and Drake jokes are soooooo back on the table lol.

[@lsdxm]

1:08:37 Reminds me of the 90s when we did colonoscopies at my home lab

[@Niwde73d]

I have a big l lifestyls shirt...signed by r.a. and percee p.

[@RUSSIAN_SPY_INC]

G Rap crushed that dragon track. I love leaving the house and hitting outside with that track. 80's was dope. I question anything beyond the Mobdeep era.

[@Niwde73d]

Enter the dragon is a sick ass song. My favorite is probably 4.5.6.

[@zzzzzz69]

how he demonstrates the thin voice style is hilarious haha, I'm kind of with him that style takes getting used to sonically for me, I'm with the host that the flow and sonic element is more important musically and I'm not into thin nasally voices

[@andrewc318]

I was a white kid that that grew up in Stamford Connecticut and Bridgeport and Milford

[@superdopehiphop]

I absolutely love G-Rap he’s in my personal top3-7 GOAT tier, but he did not “wreck Nas on Fast Life”. They both murdered that song. It’s an all time classic. I say this as someone who has been a fan of R.A. since 1997 Rawkus (he’s had 2 real dope albums in row 2013/20 too and was signed in early 90s at 18). I would agree G-Rap may of been a tad better, but to say he “wrecked Nas” is just not true. Glad he named Locksmith & Elzhi bc they’re 2 of the illest lyricists EVER!

[@hendrx]

Kool G wrecked him indeed

[@superdopehiphop]

@@hendrx no he did not. That makes it sound like Nas wasn’t dope on it also

[@hendrx]

@@superdopehiphop Kool G was doper by far

[@superdopehiphop]

@@hendrx if someone is a 9.3/10 vs 10/10 that’s not “getting wrecked”. Getting washed is when it’s not even close like G-Rap on plenty of other songs or Eminem on Forever vs inferior emcees or R.A the rugged man on Uncommon Valor. I don’t personally think Em wrecked Hov on Renegade either. I thought Em was doper but both dope on it

[@MusosisMusicPlayer-ys9bs]

RA is a real rap fan. Krs vs Snoop is a no brainer to true heads..I put him up there with Murs for O.G Rappers (25_ years), real passion of rap music history and range. RA might loose in overseas Rap, murs knows some shit. Love to see a rap quiz with these two, slug is pretty good too.

[@DabNaggit]

RA is a fuckin clown and one of the dumbest people on the internet.

[@SkribbalOfficial]

❤❤❤

[@drunkenmonkey254]

How does he say flow is the most important and then thin Jay belongs in the conversation? Jay is a decent lyricist, but his flow has always been his most vulnerable attribute. It's why em sounded so much better than him on Renegade.

[@Multiply187]

Fax, Jay is always nice with the wordplay but flow wise he's pretty average

[@lsdxm]

27:55 waaAAack

[@brothajamessd1670]

Wise Intelligent should be part of the top 5 discussion.

[@hendrx]

FACTS

[@JRLastActionHero]

Like how in the hell did the rapper SEXY REDD even blow up absolutely crazy

[@LuisFelipeBallénUriarte]

YOU NEED A TOP 5 LYRICIST? RAKIM BIG DADDY KANE NAS BLACK THOUGHT PHAROAHE MONCH

[@zzzzzz69]

The point about he can just rap good he can't do anything else, that's the same thing I remember hearing Tech N9ne and Eminem say lol (if I remember correctly), it's probably exaggeration though

[@zzzzzz69]

I agree KRS can body Snoop easy

[@stillgotyourmom]

Not in Snoops best rap time!

[@CesarSanchezfool]

@@stillgotyourmomsnoop always had a great flow and a nice voice but he isn’t lyrically great like the blastmaster

[@stillgotyourmom]

@@CesarSanchezfool You wanna tell me KRS simple rhyme patterns wld body Snoop in a track vs track battle? 😂 LA never had the battle culture that NY had but Pac, Snoop, Kurupt were known as pretty well of the dome freestylers that allowed them to record many tracks in a short period.

[@Desperado213]

Toure looks a little like Humpty Hump at this stage..

[@wizcoolc1]

RA is the best man, but I was a white teenager in long island in the 80s rapping and I didn't get any hate like that.

[@rickyredhookbk9048]

Depends on your hood/school. I lived Canarsie/Williamsburg Brooklyn (tough areas then but hipsterville now) and was a Bboy bombing walls & trains/Break Dancing in the early 80s (81-86) and didn’t hear it until I went into other hoods of BK. Yeah! They were predominantly white neighborhoods. Those same individuals that gave me shit (white & black) were imitating my shit later.

[@kingzingo]

Lupe is the goat

[@mamba4817]

He is definitely top 1 to 2 lyricist

[@iceninjaman3685]

RA is the badest rapper 16:35 right now everyone needs to catch up

[@mistahp8017]

Being the first doesn't make you the greatest.

[@DanielIvan707]

This guy got punked out by Tim Pool. I can’t even make this stuff up.

[@samrice5926]

Tf? Tim Pool was a clown in that interview, as he is in all of them.

[@DanielIvan707]

@@samrice5926 Tim Pool is the worst. But he shut RA down.

[@ryanfoerst]

U guys are internet geeks , Tim pool was being disrespectful and got checked is what happened …. Idk where u guys grew up at or what u dudes where watching

[@DanielIvan707]

@@ryanfoerst Who cares where I grew up?

[@stillgotyourmom]

Idk I think a lot of RAs media figure comes across as a hypocrite. He goes against Mainstream since his 90s label drop but is a boot liccer when it comes down to be culturally accepted. I mean its nice you wanna rap but you never will be fully accepted! Nobody ever mentions RA beside Biggie gave him props but that was long ago. RA holds a lot of cultural values up but gets ignored due to his skin colour and thats when its time to say goodbye. He should only use rap to honor his unfair treated family not A climbing into some culture that 1st isnt really what it is and 2nd he waste all his energy for it. A lot of second in label bosses are blck and they are sell outs but RA can never say "Oh you blck fuul selling out your own folk" he ld get banished or attacked and thats where he has a very small room working for an art that sells the dream being for everybody. Also he was steady going against Eminem as it was easy even Em also giving back a lot and in fact did the same aiming at pop artist but on another level. There you go with a few whte rappers like him, Em, Non Phixion, Paz, Vanilla Ice, MGK to name some and they all are beefing over Bull they ld be better sticking together as outsiders in this world but theres this complex over skin colour so dides like RA probably smaller themselves for their art. Its just a bit pathetic in the end.

[@nelsonsavage4635]

RA has gotten mad props from Method Man, Rakim, Grandmaster Caz, BLACK THOUGHT, Sean Price, Lord Jamar and Ice T to name a few.

[@stillgotyourmom]

@@nelsonsavage4635 Thats not what I meant!

[@DJRazzBlu40]

Snoop is great, though utterly KRS-One would totally dismember snoop in a battle.