A well-known Maine rap artist lost all of his recording and musical equipment Monday when someone broke into his van as he was eating a sandwich at a St. Louis restaurant.

Spose, whose legal name is Ryan Peters, said the burglar stole several laptops, all of his musical equipment, a camera, his microphone, an iPad, clothing, cash and his external hard drives, which contained music he produced for his next album. The heist netted the burglar more than $30,000 in valuables.

The break-in could not have happened at a worse time for Spose. He is on a 40-day national tour that started Oct. 3 in Syracuse and won't end until Nov. 24 in Philadelphia. "It is going to be an uphill battle to replace everything that was taken," he says. Courtesy photo

The break-in occurred while Spose and three associates he is touring with were having lunch at Pappy’s Smokehouse in St. Louis. Police told Spose that surveillance video from the restaurant showed a man breaking the lock on the driver’s-side door.

“We are devastated at the amount of things we lost. I lost all the music I ever made,” Spose, 29, said in a telephone interview Monday night from Lawrence, Kansas, where he was scheduled to perform as the opening act for MC Chris, an American “nerdcore” rapper, and rapper MC Lars.

The break-in could not have happened at a worse time for Spose. He is in the midst of a 40-day national tour that started Oct. 3 in Syracuse and won’t end until Nov. 24 in Philadelphia.

“It is going to be an uphill battle to replace everything that was taken,” Spose said. “This sets me back, all the way to square one.”

Spose, who lives in Wells, is married and has two young children, including a 10-month-old daughter, to support.

“This is my job. I feel like my job was taken away from me,” he said. “I feel like I’m crippled, but we have to bounce back somehow.”

Following the burglary, Spose went on his Facebook page to express his feelings.

“We were in the restaurant for 30 minutes. And they essentially took my job, all the work I had done for the past two years building up to 2015. Gone,” Spose wrote. “There is no amount of likes or comments that’ll bring anything back. I just wanted to let the people who robbed us know (expletive) you and let our fans know I’ll be performing the next few shows with limited resources.”

Spose also said in his Facebook post that he had contacted his insurance company.

Fans of Spose created a fundraising campaign for the rapper on the gofundme.com website. More than $3,600 had been raised by late Monday night to help him overcome his losses.

Earlier this year, Spose garnered statewide attention after a song of his containing a lewd lyric about U.S. Sen. Susan Collins was used in a documentary video about U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, the Democratic candidate for governor. The video was released by Bangor Daily News blogger Alex Steed.

At one point in the song, Spose blurts the lyrics, “I’m the King of Maine, I’m the King of Maine, I’ve got Susan Collins giving everyone brain.”

Brain is urban slang for oral sex.

Michaud denied that his campaign had anything to do with the editing or production of the video. Spose said he gave Steed’s production company, Knack Factory, permission to use the song.

Despite the loss of his equipment, Spose said the show must go on. He was still planning to open Monday night at the Granada Theater, a historic theater and concert venue in Lawrence, Kansas, for the two rappers.

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