Earlier today (June 15), Long Island, New York emcee R.A. The Rugged Man was removed from flying on a Southwest Airlines flight traveling to New York. The veteran Nature Sounds Records artist was reportedly kicked off the plane due to his “Every Record Label Sucks Dick” t-shirt, which was deemed offensive by airline staff.

The shirt takes its name from an early R.A. single, while he was signed to Jive Records in the early 1990s. The song was later included in his 2009 release, Legendary Classics, Volume 1.

R.A. The Rugged Man released the following statement through his label:

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Man, I was coming home from shooting a music video in Kentucky and this old angry lady who worked for Southwest confronted me about the shirt I had on underneath my jacket. I didn’t even remember what shirt I had on. After another crew member boarded me on the plane, the angry lady ran back like, ‘Sir, get off this plane with that disgusting shirt.’ I thought it was a fucking joke…then she threatened to get security. I kept my cool, didn’t curse or anything, but she still called security. She said ‘You will not be flying on Southwest with such a horrible shirt.’ I said ‘No problem, I’ll zip up my jacket.’ And she was like ‘No, it has to come off.’ So I took off the shirt, thinking I’d just wear my jacket…but they started freaking out, saying ‘You can’t undress in here!’  After that she said ‘You can’t fly with us.’ So I left…I don’t give a fuck, I got my rhyme book, I’m about to go catch the Amtrak and write a little bit on the road home. It makes these people with shit jobs feel good that they have some kind of authority over people in society. Like the cornball bouncers at clubs…they’re not shit, can’t let them bother you.

It has been reported that R.A. is presently headed to New York via Amtrak trains. He provided the attached photo.

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