For the first time in almost six years, R.A. The Rugged Man has returned to Toronto, bringing his unique brand of rowdy, hardcore Hip-Hop to Hard Luck Bar. Having the reputation of one of Hip-Hop’s most lyrically twisted, grimy, and technically skilled emcees in the underground, R.A. The Rugged Man’s return to Toronto marks the first opportunity fans would have to see him perform new songs off of his latest album, 2020’s All My Heroes Are Dead. Dubbed the Every Night Is A Movie Tour, R.A. The Rugged Man has not only been celebrating his multi-decade musical legacy with fans across Canada, but he’s also been promoting his shift into a film career, with proceeds from his tour as well as his recent crowdfunding campaign going towards his directorial feature-length debut for his film Suicide Disco. Check out the promo video for the film here.

This show would be brought to us by Klee MaGor and Landmine Entertainment, who put together a dope lineup of local Toronto-based artists to open for R.A. The Rugged Man. Klee himself would be greeting fans at the door as they arrived, making everyone feel welcome as they walked in, and DJ Shortcut would be holding it down on the turntables. Pretty soon the host of the evening, Matthew Almeida, would start introducing artists to the stage, the first being an emcee named Roch. Warming up the stage and getting some energy out of the crowd, Roch had a solid opening set, performing songs like “Nothin’ I’m Sayin'” to put some sharp flows on display and get the crowd bouncing.

The sound mixing would be hit or miss throughout the evening, as some microphones seemed to work better than others, and some artists would have their raps drowned out by their beats or their overlapping recorded vocals. One of the standout openers included the duo Rhythm And Poetry (R.A.P.), who had a song that reworked the sample from Eve’s “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” and a freestyle over Method Man & Redman’s “Da Rockwilder” that had the crowd turned up. Another standout was Muskoka’s own Taktikz, who I had seen kill a few Toronto stages over the years, and he had new material to perform with so much time having passed since we last saw him. With his style evolving over the years, Taktikz had a group with him called The Huntzmen that included two other emcees and a guitarist, and they brought that hardcore blend of Rock and Rap to the stage that cranked up the energy in the room.

The last opener to hit the stage before R.A. The Rugged Man would of course be Klee MaGor, joined by Big Stretch The Demon Slayer. Klee would start off with a new song just released a day prior, setting off the party vibes with the Funk-infused “Cheap Thrillz” as his team tossed free CDs of his Chaotic Temple album into the crowd. Klee & Stretch would quickly flip it back to that hardcore vibe they’re known for though, performing their ILL Bill, Psycho Les & Ruste Juxx collab “Rap Titans” over the beat from Ghostface Killah’s “The Champ.” They’d keep up those GFK vibes, closing out their set by spitting their verses from “Consequences” over Ghostface’s “One” beat. Knowing the fans were mostly there to see R.A. The Rugged Man, Klee would humbly thank the crowd after a quick 4-song set and made way for the headliner.

The crowd was vibing out as DJ Shortcut spun some classic ’90s Hip-Hop while DJ Lala got her gear set up. DJ Lala would make an impression right away, as she used actual vinyl records throughout her show and set up a beat to loop while she got to the front of the stage to hype the crowd up. The entire building got hyped as she did some call and response, and pretty soon she would bring out R.A. The Rugged Man himself to set off the main event.

With the crowd’s energy turned up, R.A. The Rugged Man chose the perfect song to start off his set, performing “The Introduction” off of his All My Heroes Are Dead album, which essentially works as a recap of where he’s been during the 7-year gap since his previous album. While the song is one long verse with alternating tempos, Rugged Man abruptly cut it off midway, before the double-time part kicks in, and got the crowd chanting “T-Dot, ride with us!” over his Rawkus Records throwback “Stanley Kubrick.” The crowd stayed hyped as Rugged Man would bounce between eras, going from the 2020s with “Legendary Loser” to the 2010s with “The Dangerous Three” and “Freedom Form Flowing,” and eventually landing in the ’90s.

This show happened to be on March 9th, which of course is the anniversary of The Notorious B.I.G.’s passing, so it’s only right that R.A. The Rugged Man performed a tribute to the fallen legend, covering part of his verse on their 1994 collaboration “Cunt Renaissance.” Despite some issues with the sound mixing, Rugged Man carried on with a tribute to the golden era as a whole, getting the crowd to chant along to the hook from another ’94 throwback “Every Record Label Sucks Dick” before jumping into his verse from “Renaissance 2.0,” going acapella to spit it word for word as he shouted out Hip-Hop legends throughout his verse. Just as he ended the verse with the lyrics “I’m Funky 4+1,” DJ Lala dropped that group’s 1976 track “That’s The Joint” to turn it into a tasteful celebration of Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary. Being somewhat of a historian for the culture, Rugged Man would bring it back to the original elements of Hip-Hop, getting his tour opener Liftid to join him on stage to do some beatboxing and call-and-response with the crowd.

While I thought the beatboxing would be a dope transition for Rugged Man to perform 2013’s “Tom Thum,” he’d instead get into his 2004 album Die, Rugged Man, Die, which marked his indie debut after a few failed major label deals throughout the ’90s. He’d get the crowd all rowdy, chanting along to the hook on “Da Girlz, They Luv Me,” and getting heads nodding to his Wu-Tang collaboration “Chains.” Continuing to highlight the original elements of Hip-Hop, Rugged Man would then step aside again, this time giving DJ Lala a moment to shine as she did some cuts on the turntables while spinning around. The crowd was into it, and wifey and I got especially hyped as she chopped up the song we used to enter our wedding reception, Mark Ronson’s “Ooh Wee,” using the late Nate Dogg’s “la-la-la-la-lalalalalala” on the intro to highlight her name.

After DJ Lala got the crowd dancing, R.A. The Rugged Man would return on a more serious tone, with the next segment of songs being critical towards the government. He’d bring Klee MaGor back on stage for a special moment, thanking Klee for booking and promoting him back in 2010 for what he calls one of the most emotional shows he’s ever performed, remembering how he decided not to cancel coming to Toronto the day after his father passed away. The next song would of course be the iconic true story about his father that earned Rugged Man widespread acclaim back in 2006, with many calling it the Verse of the Decade for the 2000s: “Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story.” Rugged Man had the crowd in the palm of his hand as he shredded the rapid-fire verse, going acapella to add dramatic effect to the part of the story where he enters the afterlife.

Rugged Man would hit the crowd with one more serious joint criticizing the government, performing his 2020 collab with Immortal Technique, “Who Do We Trust?,” getting the crowd to chant along to the hook before getting back to the party vibes. Looking to turn the crowd all the way up, the next few songs would be geared towards starting a mosh pit, starting with the 2013 classic “The People’s Champ.” While the decade-old throwback was hype, the next song might’ve been the most energetic of the entire night, my personal favourite off of All My Heroes Are Dead, “Dragon Fire.” Rugged Man would be quick to restart the song and really get the mosh pit going, wanting to show the footage to Ghostface Killah, who slays the opening verse to the Wu-Tang + Kool G Rap collaboration. It’s not often you see a mosh pit this wild happen in a small venue like Hard Luck Bar, but Rugged Man pulled it off, getting the crowd turned up as they let Ghostface Killah’s verse play before he killed his own verse and got everyone doing the “Wu-Tang!” chant.

Some fans may remember seeing big signs when entering saying that there was no stage diving or crowd surfing allowed in Hard Luck Bar. Never being known as one to comply with the rules, R.A. The Rugged Man would break both of them as he’d continue the mosh pit vibes over the next few songs, bringing a few fans on stage to stage-dive at the start of each track. First up would be his Tech N9ne collab “Holla-Loo-Yuh,” followed by the massive posse-cut “The Slayers Club,” and finally a fan-favourite Vinnie Paz collaboration, “Sam Peckinpah.” Rugged Man would nail his verses on each track and the crowd would continue to mosh while carrying the stage-diving fans to the floor. This was definitely the most hype segment of the concert.

After letting fans jump into the crowd, Rugged Man himself would be next, as he’d jump down and perform the next couple songs while walking through the crowd amongst the fans. These would be some of his more mellow, feel-good type of tracks featuring Eamon singing on the hooks, including “Life of the Party” and “Still Get Through The Day.” Now with some more positive energy in the building, Rugged Man would highlight another element of Hip-Hop, getting Liftid and DJ Lala to be b-boys and b-girls and breakdance as he performed the upbeat “Definition of a Rap Flow.” After getting a breakdance cypher to open up, Rugged Man would take some time to speak on some Hip-Hop history, shouting out Michie Mee for being the first Canadian emcee to sign a major label record deal, and praising one of his idols in Kool G Rap, whom he collaborated with on the next song he’d perform acapella, “Kingz.”

Next, Rugged Man would invite a few ladies on stage to dance with him as he performed “Golden Oldies,” another feel-good track that reflects on trying to date younger women while getting old. After having a good time dancing and getting the ladies to finish some of his rhymes for him, R.A. The Rugged Man would hint at closing out the show by performing the second half of the All My Heroes Are Dead “Introduction,” nailing the double-time flow in one last showcase of his impeccable breath control. With the fans giving him a ton of energy and cheering when he asked if he could do one more song, Rugged Man continued on into the comedic, self-depreciating “Shoot Me In The Head” while inviting more fans to dance behind him on stage. He would then end the show for real by performing his verse from Vinnie Paz’ 2010 track, “Nosebleed,” before making his way to the merch booth to take pictures and sign autographs.

Still being within Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary year, R.A. The Rugged Man delivered an authentic Hip-Hop experience that showcased all of the original elements, minus graffiti, and used his historical knowledge to give a worthy celebration of the occasion. Even within his own catalogue of music, Rugged Man makes sure to praise the legends that came before him while still showcasing lyrical and technical excellence when it comes to emceeing. Throughout his performance he showed his diverse range of music, from braggadocios to self-depreciating; from violent, hardcore mosh pit music, to upbeat, positive energy. While there are some songs off of the new album I would’ve liked to see get performed live, like “All Systems Go” and “Gotta Be Dope,” R.A. The Rugged Man still delivered an action-packed performance that took us through all the eras of his lengthy career.

The Every Night Is A Movie Tour continues as it heads out to Canada’s western provinces, dates and tickets can be found here.

Big thank-you to Klee MaGor and Landmine Entertainment for granting this blog access to review this show!

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