Method Man & R.A. The Rugged Man Talk Music Industry Black-Balling (Video)
R.A. The Rugged Man, who’s been a longtime label-mate of Masta Killa at Nature Sounds, predates a lot of Wu-Tang Clan members, as far as record contracts. The early 1990s Jive Records sensation known as Crustified Dibbs recently got up with Method Man backstage on the road, recalling their circa-1993 meeting at Def Jam Records.
Meth, who’s no stranger to upsetting a label or two (arrests, bad press), recalls meeting the Long Island MC at the height of his rise to major prominence. As fate would have it, R.A. would spend the next decade fighting to release a debut album, while the Iron Lung MC became one of Hip-Hop’s most recognizable faces and voices, a hardcore rapper embraced in the mainstream.
The two discuss how Meth initially dismissed R.A.’s “black-ball” from the industry when Def Jam refused to allow the pair to work together on a release. Later on, the Staten Island MC now admits he understands what R.A. meant, and salutes him for it.
Meth’s quote at the end… quite poignant…