R.A. the Rugged Man

The Third studio album by Thorbun All My Heroes Are Dead was released on April 17, 2020. It features artists like Ghostface Killah,Eamon, Atmosphere, Ice-T, Vinnie Paz, Brand Nubian, Chino XL, M.O.P. and Onyx.

Thorburn has two children: Ella (born in 2016) and John A. Thorburn (born in 2017).

Since then, he has worked with the likes of Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang Clan, Kool G Rap, and Notorious B.I.G., as well as producers Erick Sermon, Trackmasters, DJ Quik, The Alchemist, J-Zone, and Ayatollah. He was featured on all three of Rawkus's Soundbombing albums, as well as the platinum-selling WWF Aggression album. After a brief stint on Capitol Records (during which he recorded another unreleased album, American Lowlife), R.A. signed with independent label Nature Sounds and released his official debut, Die, Rugged Man, Die. In 2013, R.A. released his second album, Legends Never Die on Nature Sounds.

Thorburn's second studio album Legends Never Die was released on April 30, 2013. Guest appearances include Brother Ali, Masta Ace, Tech N9ne, Talib Kweli, Hopsin, Eamon (singer) and Krizz Kaliko. His first single of the album was 'The Peoples Champ'. The second single was "Learn Truth' Feat. Talib Kweli. Upon release the album debuted at number 1 on the US Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, number 17 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and at number 131 on the Billboard 200. In 2016, Thorburn was featured on German rapper Kool Savas studio album Essahdamus on the song "Wahre Liebe".===

Thorburn's father, Staff Sgt. John A. Thorburn, was a Vietnam veteran affected by Agent Orange. His brother Maxx was born handicapped and blind, eventually dying at the age of 10. Thorburn's sister, Dee Ann, died in 2007 at the age of 26. Thorburn tells his father's story in "Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story," from the Jedi Mind Tricks album Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell. John A. Thorburn died 7 January 2010 from cancer. Thorburn is of German, Scottish and Sicilian descent.

The October 2006 issue of The Source featured Thorburn's verse on Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story as its "Hip-Hop Quotable" of the month and HipHopDX named it as the "Verse of the Year" AllHipHop.com states that "This record will be remembered most for R.A.'s robotic flow recounting his own father's story of war while absolutely murdering the beat." Rolling Stone Magazine recently compared Thorburn's rap flow to that of a blue-eyed Biggie Smalls. When reviewing his song "On the Block", Vibe Magazine said, "I love this song. It give me goosebumps. It's very inventive."

In 2004 he released his first album Die, Rugged Man, Die on the Brooklyn-based label Nature Sounds. Thorburn has cameos in several music videos including Havoc from Mobb Deep's I'm the Boss, Sadat X's Throw the Ball and Masta Killa's Old Man featuring RZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard.

In 1992, Thorburn signed with Jive Records, then in the mid-1990s signed with Priority Records/EMI. His contract was later absorbed by Capitol Records but he began recording independently in the early 2000s. He has worked with MCs such as The Notorious B.I.G., Mobb Deep, and Chuck D. He was featured on all three of Rawkus's Soundbombing albums, as well as the platinum-selling WWF Aggression album, performing the theme song for Chris Jericho. In Ego Trip Vol. 1, Issue 3, The Notorious B.I.G. was quoted as saying, "And I thought I was the illest," when referring to Thorburn.