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Ol' Dirty Bastard

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Ol' Dirty Bastard

Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004) was an American rapper and occasional producer, who went by the stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard. He was one of the founding members of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan[1][2].

Ol' Dirty Bastard simultaneously brought a measure of humor and a touch of the absurd to the Wu-Tang Clan. Often noted for his unusual microphone technique (critic Steve Huey writes of Jones' "outrageously profane, free-associative rhymes" delivered "in a distinctive half-rapped, half-sung style"[3]), Jones' stage name came from a 1980 kung fu film entitled Ol' Dirty and the Bastard, the relevance of which was articulated by Method Man's assertion that there was "no father" to Jones' style.[4]

After establishing the Wu-Tang Clan, Ol' Dirty Bastard went on to a successful solo career[5]. However, his professional success was hampered by erratic personal behavior and frequent legal troubles, including incarceration. He died in late 2004 of an accidental drug overdose, two days before his 36th birthday[6].

Biography

Early life and career

Russell Tyrone Jones was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1968[1]. As he grew older, he started hanging out more and more with his cousins Robert Diggs and Gary Grice; they all shared a unique taste for rap music and kung-fu style movies[2]. Diggs, later known as the RZA, Grice, later the GZA formed the Force of the Imperial Master, which subsequently became known as the All in Together Now Crew after they had a successful underground single of that name.

In 1990, Ol' Dirty became close friends with fellow "5 percenter" Freedom Shabazz Allah, his roommate in Orlando, Florida. Shabazz, hailing from Plainfield, New Jersey, immediately became close friends with Jones after graduating from Job Corps in upstate New York along with RZA's eldest brother. The two became inseparable and spent countless hours penning rhymes together and working a brief stint at the local Hardee's and at Universal Studios as laborers at the "Jaws" attraction.

The cousins soon added six more friends and associates to the Clan, and released their debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in 1993. 36 Chambers received enormous critical praise, and is now widely regarded as one of the best and most influential hip-hop albums to be released in the 1990s, as well as one of the best hip-hop albums of all time.[7][full citation needed]

Solo career

Ol' Dirty Bastard's solo career began in 1995, making him the second member of the Wu-Tang Clan to release a solo album, following Method Man's 1994 effort, Tical. Released on March 28, 1995, Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version spawned the hit singles "Brooklyn Zoo" and "Shimmy Shimmy Ya", which helped propel the album to platinum status. The album's sound was as raw and gritty as 36 Chambers, producer RZA creating beats even more minimalist and stripped-down than on the group's debut.

That same year, he was featured on the remix of Mariah Carey's "Fantasy".

Around this time, Jones gained notoriety when, as he was being profiled for an MTV biography, he took two of his thirteen children by limousine to a New York State welfare office to pick up his welfare check while his latest album was still in the top ten of the US charts. The entire incident was filmed by an MTV camera crew and was broadcast nationwide.

In 1997, Ol' Dirty Bastard appeared on the Wu-Tang Clan's second and most commercially successful album, Wu-Tang Forever. However, Jones appeared less often on the Clan's second album than on the debut; he contributed a solo track titled "Dog Shit" as well as hooks ("As High As Wu-Tang Get") and spoken introductions ("Triumph"), but other than these appearances and featuring prominently on the songs "Maria" and "Reunited," as well as delivering a very short verse on "Heaterz," he was absent.

In February 1998, Jones witnessed a car accident from the window of his Brooklyn recording studio. He and a friend ran to the accident scene and organized about a dozen onlookers who assisted in lifting the 1996 Ford Mustang—rescuing a 4-year-old girl from the wreckage. She was taken to a hospital with first and second degree burns. Using a false name, Jones visited the girl in the hospital frequently until he was spotted by members of the media.[8]

The evening following the traffic accident, Jones rushed on-stage unexpectedly as Shawn Colvin took the stage to give her acceptance speech for "Song of the Year" at the Grammy Awards, and began complaining that he had recently purchased expensive clothes in anticipation of winning the "Best Rap Album" award that he lost to Puff Daddy. As Colvin took the stage to a round of applause, he implored the audience, "Please calm down, the music and everything. It's nice that I went and bought me an outfit today that costed a lot of money today, you know what I mean? 'Cause I figured that Wu-Tang was gonna win. I don't know how you all see it, but when it comes to the children, Wu-Tang is for the children. We teach the children. You know what I mean? Puffy is good, but Wu-Tang is the best, Okay? I want you all to know that this is Ol' Dirty Bastard, and I love you all. Peace!" His bizarre on-stage antics were widely reported in the mainstream media.

In April 1998, he announced his new stage name, Big Baby Jesus (the first of many alternate stage names), but was never able to give a coherent explanation for the very brief switch.

During the 1998 Video Music Awards, Jones performed Ghetto Superstar onstage with Pras, Mya, and in this case, Wyclef Jean. Jones held a bottle in a paper bag onstage, and during his appearance, his lyrics were arguably slurred. At the end of the performance, Jones nearly lost his life as he stood in point-blank range of the pyrotechnic cannons. Pras was lucky enough to move him out of the way at the last second.

In 1999, he found time to release Nigga Please between jail sentences, which received much success and was even more bizarrely warped than his debut. This release included the single "Got Your Money" which became extremely successful in the US and elsewhere; it was produced by The Neptunes, and its success would serve as one of the production group's main stepping stones to the super-stardom they would later achieve. As well as the Neptunes, the single also put singer Kelis, who sang the chorus, on the map; she went on to have a successful solo career.

During the same period, Jones was paid US$30,000 to appear on Insane Clown Posse's 1999 album The Amazing Jeckel Brothers. Completing his track in two days, his recording consisted of him rambling about "bitches." Insane Clown Posse re-recorded the track and reedited Jones' vocals in order to form four rhymes out of his rambling, giving the song the title "Bitches".[9]

In 2001, with Jones again in jail for crack cocaine possession, his record company Elektra Records made the decision to release a greatest hits album (despite there being only two albums in Ol' Dirty Bastard's back catalog) in order to both end their contract with the unreliable, troubled artist as well as make some money off the publicity generated by his legal troubles. After the contract with Elektra was terminated, the label D-3 records released the album The Trials and Tribulations of Russell Jones in 2002, composed of tracks put together without Jones's input, using the vocals he had recorded with hypewoman Sic-wif-it (Salome), DJ extrodinaire Organix (Eden), and the high- profile lyricist T-Time (Tamara) prior to his capture by authorities. The label recruited many guests including several Wu-Tang Clan affiliates, No Limit Records artist C-Murder, and Insane Clown Posse. However, the album was critically panned and sales were poor.

The year 2003 brought a change in the life of Ol' Dirty Bastard however. The day he was released from prison, with Mariah Carey and Damon Dash by his side, Jones signed a contract with Roc-A-Fella Records[10], and began a new chapter in his life. Living at his mother's home under house arrest and with a court-ordered probation hanging over his head, he managed to star in a VH1 special, Inside Out: Ol' Dirty Bastard Life on Parole. He also managed to record a new album, originally scheduled to be released through Dame Dash Music Group in 2004; it remains unreleased.

Aliases

The members of the Wu-Tang clan rapped under several personae. Ol' Dirty Bastard took his stage name from the 1980 Meng-Hwa Ho film Mad Mad Kung Fu (Guai zhao ruan pi she, also known as Ol' Dirty Kung Fu or Ol' Dirty & the Bastard). Some of Ol' Dirty Bastard's recurring aliases were Dirt McGirt, O.D.B., Osirus, Big Baby Jesus, Dirt Dog, and Ason Unique."[11]

In 1993, Ol' Dirty Bastard was convicted of second degree assault [5] for an attempted robbery and in 1994, he was shot in the abdomen following an argument with another rapper[5].

In 1996, he was accused of molesting a minor, and statuatory rape[5].

In 1997, he was arrested for failure to pay child support for three of his 13 children. His wife, Icelene Jones, claimed he had not paid any support in over a year[5].

In 1998, he pled guilty to attempted assault on his wife and was the victim of a home invasion robbery at his girlfriend's house. He was shot in the back and arm but the wounds were superficial.

In July 1998, only days after being shot in a push-in robbery at his girlfriend's house in Brooklyn, he was arrested for shoplifting a pair of $50 shoes from a Sneaker Stadium store in Virginia Beach, Virginia, although he was carrying close to $500 in cash at the time. He was issued bench warrants by the Virginia Beach Sheriffs Department to stand trial after he failed to appear in court numerous times. He was arrested for criminal threatening after a series of drunken confrontations in Los Angeles a few weeks later, and was then re-arrested for similar charges not long after that.

During a traffic stop, the details of which remain clouded in multiple versions of events, he was arrested for attempted murder and criminal weapon possession. The case was later dismissed.

In February 1999, he was arrested for driving without a license and for being a convicted felon wearing a bulletproof vest (the first person arrested for this infraction under a new California law). Back in New York weeks later, he was arrested for drug possession of crack cocaine and for traffic offenses. With multiple cases in the past and present, he was arrested with marijuana and 20 vials of crack. After his arrest, Ol' Dirty Bastard reportedly asked the police to "make the rocks disappear". During a court hearing, he once called a female prosecutor a "sperm donor."[12]

This criminal record was commented on by Chris Rock in his 1999 spoken word song, "No Sex (In the Champagne Room)", with Rock asserting that "Ol' Dirty Bastard couldn't've possibly committed all those crimes."

Ol' Dirty Bastard entered rehab while still technically a fugitive from the law, but strange behavior during a subsequent court date sent him to jail for a brief period.

In October 2000, he escaped from his court-mandated drug treatment facility and spent one month as a fugitive. During his time on the run, he met with RZA and spent some time in their recording studio. He then appeared onstage at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York swigging a bottle at the record release party for The W, the third Wu-Tang Clan album. In late November 2000 while still on the lam, he was arrested outside a South Philadelphia McDonald's (at 29th and Gray's Ferry Ave.), after he drew a crowd while signing autographs. He spent a couple of days in a Philadelphia jail and was later extradited to New York City. A Manhattan court sentenced him to two to four years incarceration.

Death

Leading up to his early death, Jones's legal troubles and odd behavior made him "something of a folk hero", according to The New Yorker writer Michael Agger.[13] Critic Steve Huey writes that "it was difficult for observers to tell whether Ol' Dirty Bastard's wildly erratic behavior was the result of serious drug problems or genuine mental instability. The possibility that his continued antics were at least partly the result of conscious image-making disappeared as time wore on."[citation needed]

Jones collapsed at approximately 5:29 p.m. on November 13, 2004 (two days before his 36th birthday) at The RZA's recording studio (36 Records LLC on West 34th Street in New York City). He was pronounced dead less than an hour later. His funeral was held at Brooklyn's Christian Cultural Center and drew a crowd of thousands[14].

The official cause of death was a drug overdose; an autopsy found a lethal mixture of cocaine and the prescription drug Tramadol, a synthetic opiate.[15] The overdose was ruled accidental and witnesses say that Jones complained of chest pain on the day he died.[16]

In November 2009, a video documentary about Ol' Dirty Bastard's life, Dirty: The Official Ol' Dirty Bastard Biography, was released. The documentary features interviews and stories from Wu-Tang members, affiliates, and family members, as well as old interviews and live footage.[17]

Discography

Main article: Ol' Dirty Bastard discography

Studio albums

Album Name Release Date Status
Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version March 28, 1995 Platinum (U.S.)
Nigga Please September 14, 1999 Gold (U.S.), Gold (CAN)
The Trials and Tribulations of Russell Jones March 19, 2002

Posthumous Albums

Album Name Release Date Status
A Son Unique Unreleased
Message to the Other Side[18][19] November 16, 2009

Mix-Tapes

Album Name Release Date Status
Osirus January 4, 2005

Compilation albums

Album Name Release Date Status
The Dirty Story: The Best of Ol' Dirty Bastard September 18, 2001
The Definitive Ol' Dirty Bastard Story June 21, 2005
Free to Be Dirty! Live August 30, 2005
In Memory Of... Vol. 3 July 9, 2007

Singles

Single Name Release Date Billboard Hot 100 Peak Position
Brooklyn Zoo February 3, 1995 54[20]
Shimmy Shimmy Ya May 9, 1995 62[20]
Got Your Money Augest 28. 1999 26[20]

References

  1. ^ a b "Official Site of the Wu-Tang Clan". Wu-Tang Corp. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  2. ^ a b "Ol' Dirty Bastard | Music Videos, News, Photos, Tour Dates, Ringtones, and Lyrics". MTV. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  3. ^ Huey, Steve (1968-11-15). "Description at Allmusic". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  4. ^ as related on track 5 of Enter the Wu-Tang
  5. ^ a b c d e Huey, Steve (1968-11-15). "( Ol' Dirty Bastard > Biography )". allmusic. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  6. ^ Zahlaway, Jon (December 15, 2004). "Autopsy shows Ol' Dirty Bastard died of drug overdose". LiveDaily. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
  7. ^ Acclaimed Music - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)[dead link]
  8. ^ Feb 24 1998 3:30 PM EST (1998-02-24). "News - Articles - 1429494 - 19980224". Mtv.com. Retrieved 2010-03-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Bruce, Joseph. "Big Money Hustlas". In Nathan Fostey (ed.). ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd Edition ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. pp. 414–433. ISBN 09741846083. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Check |isbn= value: length (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |origdate= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |origmonth= ignored (help)
  10. ^ “”. "Did Old Dirty Bastard Know About the ROC??". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-07-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ TV.com page on Ol' Dirty Bastard
  12. ^ Goodman, Dean (2004-11-13). "Rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard dies suddenly in New York". Signonsandiego.com. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  13. ^ Agger, Michael (2005-01-10). "Not Dirty". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2006-10-09.
  14. ^ "Ol' Dirty Bastard: Biography from". Answers.com. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  15. ^ Patel, Joseph (2004-12-15). "Ol' Dirty Bastard Died From Drug Overdose, Medical Examiner's Office Says - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News". Mtv.com. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  16. ^ "Ol' Dirty Bastard - Cause Of Death Revealed | News". Nme.Com. 2004-12-16. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  17. ^ "Dirty: The Official Ol' Dirty Bastard Biography: Raison Allah, Stephon Turner: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  18. ^ http://www.platekompaniet.no/Musikk.aspx/CD/Ol_Dirty_Bastard/Message_To_The_Other_Side_mDVD/?id=MYMA00203B.2
  19. ^ "Ol Dirty Bastard – Message To The Other Side – MC MIC 13". Mcmic13.com. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  20. ^ a b c "( Ol' Dirty Bastard > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )". allmusic. 1968-11-15. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
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